Domino is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces called dominoes. A domino is a rectangular tile, usually with one square end marked with an arrangement of spots or pips (also called dots or pegs) and another end that is blank or identically patterned. The number of pips on the ends distinguishes each domino from others in a domino set, also called a deck or pack, which contains all possible combinations of spots. A traditional European domino set contains 28 tiles, sometimes also called bones, pieces, men, stones or cards. The traditional 28-piece set was developed in the mid-18th century and was widely introduced to the United States in 1837.
The game’s most basic variant is a block-and-draw game for two players using a double-six set of dominoes. The 28 tiles are shuffled face down and form the stock or boneyard, and each player draws seven from the stock. The first player plays a domino from his or her hand, and the other player follows suit by playing a domino of the same value as the previous domino played. The player who plays the highest-value domino wins.
When Hevesh begins building a domino layout, she starts with the largest sections of the design and works her way down to smaller arrangements. She tests each section in slow motion, filming it to see how it works and making precise corrections when necessary. She may even start a new section before the current one is finished in order to get all the elements in place.
Like Hevesh’s creations, an effective story requires the right dominoes in the right places to build up and climax with a bang. Whether you’re a pantser, writing off the cuff, or a plotter who uses an outline software like Scrivener to create an in-depth scene map of your novel, knowing how to use the domino effect can help you avoid putting in scenes that don’t have enough logical impact on the ones ahead of them.
The best way to think about a good domino is as a “main” task that has a big impact on your goals. This task should receive your full attention until it is completed, and it will push other tasks forward. Likewise, when you pick out the right dominoes to complete each day, they should be challenging and require a significant amount of your time and focus. Identifying these “main” tasks will make it easier to manage your time and prioritize your work. For example, if you’re working on a financial plan to save for retirement, the first dominoes you need to knock over are establishing your savings goals and creating a budget. Once those tasks are in place, they will have a positive ripple effect that will allow you to save more and retire with peace of mind. Then you can spend more of your life doing things that you love.