Dominoes are the flat rectangular or square-shaped tiles used in many games to mark the places where other pieces will fall. The first piece to hit a stack of dominoes will cause them all to tumble over, in a cascade that is hypnotically beautiful to watch. Dominoes are available in a wide variety of colors and materials, but are most often made of polymer, which is sturdy and inexpensive. In some countries, dominoes are still made from bone or ivory. More elaborate sets, including those with pips inlaid or painted on the surface of each piece, may be made from other natural materials such as stone (e.g., marble, granite or soapstone); ebony; other woods (e.g., ash, birch or redwood); and metals (e.g., brass or pewter).
The word domino has several meanings. It can refer to a game of dominoes, in which players place one tile edge-to-edge against another so that their adjacent faces match, or it can describe the pattern of spots on a single domino, called its pip count. Dominoes have been played around the world for centuries. The term entered the English language in the late 18th Century, when they were popularized in England (possibly by French prisoners of war) along with a type of puzzle that placed tiles based on their arithmetic properties.
Domino’s pizza franchise grew from an original location in Ypsilanti, Michigan, to more than 200 locations by 1978, when the company was acquired by Domino’s founder, Tom Monaghan. His key was putting the pizzerias in the right places, especially near college campuses where his core customer base of young adults could easily pick up and go.
A person who can create intricate domino setups is called a domino artist. One such artist, Hevesh 5, has amassed 2 million YouTube subscribers and has worked on projects involving up to 300,000 dominoes. Her larger creations take hours to set up and may require many nail-biting minutes before they are finally toppled. Hevesh is so confident of her work that she even offers a money-back guarantee if the whole thing doesn’t go off without a hitch.
Plotting a novel, whether it is written off the cuff or with careful outline, involves a similar dynamic. The key to creating an exciting story is thinking about what happens next—the domino effect. Using this concept will ensure that the reader is gripped from beginning to end, as each new event in your plot has a clear and inevitable effect on what comes before it and what follows.
When you think about the domino effect in your writing, consider these tips: