Domino is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces. A domino tile consists of a rectangular piece whose face is divided by a line into two square ends, marked with either spots or being blank; their backs can either be indistinguishable from each other, blank, or with some design similarity; when assembled into sets they form patterns and structures like towers, pyramids or bridges. They may also be placed stacked one on top of another to form spirals and other two- and three-dimensional displays.
In business, the domino effect refers to an unintended chain reaction with far-reaching implications beyond its immediate situation. For instance, when a company fails to fulfill on its promises and loses customer faith in them, other customers may feel betrayed and this loss of faith could eventually cause the business’s downfall.
The domino theory has long been employed as an explanation for political events, such as the rise of communist or socialist regimes around the world during the 1970s. According to this theory, a series of small events, or dominoes, led directly to these political changes; such events included economic issues, wars and decreased support from anti-communist resistance fighters in Benin, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar and Mozambique.
Writing requires understanding the relationships between scenes. A domino effect in your novel or story arc means each scene connects to those before and after it in ways that raise tension or deepen understanding of them all.
As a writer, you can use this domino effect idea to your advantage when writing logically and engaging the reader’s attention. For example, if your protagonist takes actions which violate social norms or otherwise seem questionable to readers, providing enough justification and motivation so they’ll still like him as an individual character.
Lily Hevesh, an expert domino artist who creates stunning domino creations in front of live audiences, understands all too well the domino effect. She takes great care in planning her domino art installations, carefully determining how many dominoes will be required and positioning them so that if one falls accidentally, the whole installation won’t collapse. To accomplish this task, she divides fractions to determine how many dominoes she’ll need for any given project and utilizes the fractional area formula in order to organize them on her board. She starts by setting up the first domino, barely touching it to ensure its fall in the correct direction and speed. Once this process has been repeated several times, she can practice her moves and perfect her performance.
