When you think of domino, you probably think of those dazzling domino constructions where one piece is tipped ever-so-slightly and then all the others fall in a beautiful, rhythmic cascade. But there’s another way to use the word: in a novel, a domino effect means any action that causes more than one thing to happen at once. As you work on your next draft of a story, think about each scene as a single domino that will lead to something bigger than it is on its own.
Dominoes are small, rectangular pieces of wood or other materials that have an arrangement of spots, or pips, on each end. A domino set usually contains 28 pieces, but larger sets can be extended by adding additional ends with more pips. These extra pieces are sometimes called talons, tickets, bones, spinners or stones. The individual pips on each domino are also called spots, and they can be organized in different patterns to create more than three types of ends and therefore more than two kinds of Dominoes.
Many children like to play games with these little rectangles that can be stacked on end in long lines. If they’re spaced correctly, then the first domino in the line can be tipped over and then cause the rest of the dominoes to tip over as well. This can create very complex designs. Dominoes are often referred to as a “catalyst for change.”
When Hevesh started playing with dominoes at the age of 10, she quickly developed a love for creating her own mind-blowing setups. Now, she’s a professional domino artist who has created sets for movies, TV shows, and events, including the album launch of pop star Katy Perry. Hevesh has more than 2 million YouTube subscribers and works on team projects involving hundreds of dominoes.
In Hevesh’s mind-blowing domino installations, she starts by considering the theme or purpose of an installation. Then, she brainstorms images or words that can help her create the design. She also takes into account the shape and size of the spaces where the dominoes will be placed.
Once she’s settled on a design, Hevesh begins to lay out the pieces. This helps her visualize the overall structure of the domino installation and how each piece will interact with the other pieces. Then, she tests out each domino to see if it will do what she wants it to do. If it does, she continues to add more and more dominoes to the layout until it’s perfect.
This domino effect is crucial in any story. If each scene doesn’t logically connect to the scene that comes before it or shift as the emotional beats of the character suggest it should, then the entire plot will unravel. So take a look at your plot and make sure your scenes are spaced out in the right way, just like a row of dominoes.
Domino’s Pizza CEO Don Meij has a good understanding of this concept. In the episode of Undercover Boss where he goes to one of his Domino’s restaurants, Meij observes how managers communicate with employees and customers. He also focuses on training and developing employees to ensure they have the tools and skills to do their jobs effectively, which leads to customer satisfaction. He demonstrates this value by listening to customer feedback and taking the time to meet with individual employees. This type of communication is a critical part of any organization’s culture and can have a positive impact on the overall success of a business.