Domino is the name of a game, but it’s also a metaphor for life. Like a domino, a single small action can have a huge impact. These “domino actions” are high leverage, and they can create waves of change, like a drop of water in a glass of water.
A domino is a rectangular tile with one or more faces bearing an arrangement of dots or other markings that are distinct from each other. The other face is blank or identically patterned. Each domino belongs to a suit, based on the arrangement of its markings: a double-six set contains 28 tiles (with a total of seven pips per end). A single domino can belong to more than one suit, but each suit has only a specific number of members.
In a domino game, players place the tiles edge-to-edge on a table or other surface. They then draw a number of tiles from the stock, the collection of all the dominoes not already played. The player who draws the highest value plays first, then all the other players draw more tiles, and so on. The first player to play all their tiles wins the game.
Domino games can be as simple or complex as you choose, and many are designed for two players. Most of the games are positional, in which a player places a tile on an edge against another to form some specified total or pattern. There are also layout games, in which a domino is positioned to block a space for other tiles, and scoring games, in which a player or group competes to score points by adding up the values of all the dominoes they have placed on the table.
The simplest domino game is a drawing game, in which the players draw dominoes from a stock or boneyard until they have a complete set. Then they start playing, usually with the player who draws the highest-valued domino winning. The other players continue drawing and playing until someone wins by placing all their dominoes on the table, or until neither player can play any more.
There are a variety of domino art projects, including straight lines, curved lines, grids that form pictures when they fall, stacked walls, and 3D structures. The most elaborate designs are created for domino shows, where builders create intricate and imaginative chains of reactions before an audience.
Whether you’re a pantser who writes off the cuff or a plotter who uses Scrivener or another outline tool, domino is a great metaphor for writing a story. Every scene should be in place to push the narrative forward, and it’s best when scenes build upon each other like a sequence of dominoes until you reach your climax. To be most effective, scene dominoes should fit together smoothly and naturally with no hiccups in the logic. Keep these story dominoes in a row and your readers will be eager to turn the page to find out what happens next.