Domino, the cousin of playing cards and one of humanity’s oldest toys, can be used for a range of games. But it’s the way they all work together to create something larger that’s most intriguing.
In domino shows, builders line up hundreds or thousands of dominoes in careful sequence. Then, with the nudge of just one, they all come tumbling down in a magnificent cascade. It’s a wonderful thing to see, and it also illustrates the way that narrative works.
A domino has two sides: one side bears a pattern of spots, or pips, similar to those on dice, while the other is blank or identically patterned. The pips on each domino represent the results of rolling two six-sided dice. The European dominoes we recognize today were first produced in the mid-18th century. The Chinese, however, have a longer history of domino play.
The modern domino sets that are popular in the United States feature a mixture of different colors and shapes. Some are printed with pictures, while others feature letters or numbers. Some are even designed to look like trains or buildings. Other, more traditional sets are made from bone, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (mother of pearl), ivory, or a dark wood such as ebony. They typically have a top half thickness in MOP, ivory, or ebony with contrasting white or black pips.
When a domino is set up, the pips are either inlaid or painted. The pips also have specific positions that can be matched with other dominoes, which allows for the creation of complex and imaginative domino structures. The pieces can be arranged in straight lines, curved lines, grids that form pictures when they fall, or stacked walls.
Hevesh, a 20-year-old domino artist, has created mind-blowing setups that take several nail-biting minutes to fall. She follows a version of the engineering-design process to plan out her designs. Hevesh begins by considering the theme or purpose of an installation, and brainstorming images or words that relate to it.
Writing fiction can also be compared to domino, as the goal is to build a story that logically flows from scene to scene and, ultimately, leads to a satisfying conclusion. To make sure that the scenes in your novel connect logically, it’s helpful to lay them out in order and step back.
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