Dominoes are a fun game to play. Watching a single domino fall and then another and then more, it’s mesmerizing. But, you have to be careful when playing because a little mistake can cause the entire line of dominos to fall. The same is true in a story, where one scene impacts the next. The key to an effective story is having all of the scenes in order and lined up so that they will fall in a smooth action without any hiccups in logic. This is why it’s important for writers to get their story dominos in a row.
Domino’s began as a small family business in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Tom Monaghan, the company’s founder, was a college graduate and a self-taught pizza cook. He opened his first franchised location in 1967. By 1978, Domino’s had over 200 locations and was known for its speed of service and consistent quality.
While some of the company’s successes can be attributed to luck, much of it was due to consistency and listening to customers. For example, one of Domino’s core values is “Champion Our Customers.” This means that the company listens to what its customers have to say and addresses their complaints promptly. In fact, a former Domino’s CEO credits the company’s ability to respond quickly to customer feedback for much of its early success.
A domino is a flat, thumb-sized rectangular block of wood or clay with two square ends bearing from one to six dots (or pips) or blank. The number of pips on each end determines the value of the domino. A complete set of dominoes consists of 28 such pieces. Each domino is designed to represent one of the 21 possible outcomes of two thrown dice, but most sets have some blanks and some duplicates of other ends.
Each Domino piece is used to start a sequence of actions in a variety of games, including domino poker, where players draw cards from the boneyard and then place them on the table until they have a combination of matching values for their dominoes. The player with the highest combined values wins the game.
Dominos are also used to create artistic displays such as curved lines, grids that form pictures when they fall, or 3D structures like towers and pyramids. Some artists, such as Hevesh, specialize in domino art and work for movie studios or events like Katy Perry’s album launch. When she’s designing an intricate domino display, Hevesh tests each section individually before putting it together. Some of these designs can take several nail-biting minutes to fall.
Similarly, a good writer must make sure that the scenes in her story connect logically to one another and lead to a big payoff for her readers at the end of the book. This is the “domino effect.” It’s like the ripple in a glass of water caused by a single drop: The small victory of making your bed in the morning, for example, can have a big impact on your day.