X-Force – Domino and the Domino Chain Reaction

Domino is a name that has come to mean a series of events that cascades, just like the famous domino set-ups. This is a very appropriate metaphor for any story, as long as the chain reaction is meaningful to the reader and makes sense within the context of the larger narrative.

A Domino is also a type of small oblong piece, marked with 0-6 pips on each side, used in the game of dominoes. They are usually twice as long as they are wide and are placed edge to edge against one another, with each player laying down dominoes of matching values in order to form a line. The value of a domino is its rank or weight, determined by the number of pips on both sides of the domino. The rank of a domino is higher if it has more pips.

Hevesh, the domino artist whose mind-blowing setups are featured in this video, follows a version of the engineering-design process when creating her installations. She starts by considering the theme or purpose of her design, brainstorming images or words that might help her create the effect she’s looking for. From there, she moves onto the technical aspects of the project.

The first domino to fall in Hevesh’s designs has a lot of potential energy, but it takes a little nudge to convert that energy into the kinetic energy that will push over the next domino. That push is transmitted to the next domino, which then has the energy it needs to tip over the one after it. And so on, until all the dominoes have fallen.

While the company is best known for its pizza, Domino’s has a number of core values that it follows. One of these is “Champion Our Customers,” which means that the company listens to what its customers are saying and does whatever it can to improve its product. When David Brandon was CEO of Domino’s, he did a lot to make this happen, including revamping the corporate culture by changing the dress code and creating leadership training programs. When Jim Doyle became CEO of Domino’s, he continued these efforts and embraced a more participatory style of management.

During her time with X-Force, Domino has battled a variety of villains, including Donald Pierce (a former X-Man) and Lady Deathstrike (along with his henchman, the Reverend). Domino’s strength and power are derived from a power called “domino luck,” which is triggered by any action that can put her in harm’s way. This power cannot be consciously controlled, but she has shown that she can limit its effects by choosing actions that will not put her in danger.

If you’re a pantser, writing without detailed outlines or software such as Scrivener to keep track of your plot, you might be tempted to write scenes that don’t connect well or don’t have enough logical impact on the scene that comes before it. That might work fine in a short story, but it’s going to be hard for readers to follow your plot if the scenes you’re writing aren’t linked in an obvious way. To avoid this problem, try to think of each scene in your novel as a domino.