Domino, small rectangular blocks used in a game of chance to knock over others. These blocks are made of rigid material such as wood, bone, or plastic. They are often painted and engraved, as well. They may be identical or they can be differently colored. They are most commonly used for positional games. In such games, players place dominoes edge to edge against one another in such a manner that the adjacent faces form either a specified total or a specified pattern. The player who achieves the specified pattern wins the game.
Dominoes are also used for artistic purposes and in demonstrations of physics principles. They can be arranged in straight or curved lines, into 3D structures, or into grids that make pictures when they fall. These arrangements can be as simple or as complicated as the artist wants them to be. Artists who specialize in domino art are known as domino artists.
The most popular domino designs include the rainbow spiral and the 12-color pyramid. Hevesh began creating domino arrangements when she was 9 years old. She started posting videos of her creations online, and now she is a professional domino artist with more than 2 million YouTube subscribers. She has worked on projects involving 300,000 dominoes and helped set a record for the most dominoes toppled in a circular arrangement (76,017). Her largest setups can take several nail-biting minutes to fall because each section of the display is subject to its own forces that influence how it will tumble.
A domino’s potential energy turns into kinetic energy when it falls, and some of that energy is transmitted to the next domino. Then, when the second domino hits the first, it causes it to push forward. In turn, this nudge causes the next domino to push the next, and so on until all the sections of the display are in place.
Like a domino, an effective story requires every scene to be in place before the big climax can occur. If there are hiccups in the logic of the plot, the reader will lose interest. If the scenes are arranged in an efficient way, the plot progresses smoothly toward the big climax. That’s why it’s important to get the scene dominoes in a row. Then, readers can enjoy the ride.