A domino is a small rectangular wood or plastic block with blank or identically patterned sides and an arrangement of dots similar to those on dice. Its identifying marks are on one side and its open end is free to connect to another domino by its matching pips. When a line of dominoes is joined with an open end to the last tile played, it forms a string or line of play that may be used for scoring in positional games. A domino also can be a decorative item, such as an art piece featuring straight lines or curved ones, grids that form pictures when they fall, or stacked walls and pyramids.
In a story, a scene domino can be any point at which a character’s goal shifts, either because of a dramatic change in circumstances or because of an emotional shift in the character. The key is to ensure that all of the scene dominoes in a novel’s chain of events are in place and connected logically.
If they’re not, the whole story will feel clumsy and unnatural. As the author, you can do a few things to ensure that each domino is where it should be.
Whether you’re a pantser who writes off the cuff or a plotter who uses outlines and Scrivener to help guide your work, it all comes down to one simple question: What happens next? To make sure you’re answering that question in a compelling way, consider using the Domino Effect.
This technique involves looking at the entire story, like a set of dominoes, and ensuring that all the scenes in your novel connect with each other as they should. For example, if your protagonist uncovers an important clue in one scene but the opposition doesn’t follow up on it in the next, the story doesn’t move forward as it should. It’s as if the clue is lying there ready to fall over, but no one knows it’s there.
To get the most out of this technique, you can make a list of all the scenes in your story and then use the Domino Effect to check that they all logically connect. You can even do this for a single chapter.
In a game of domino, players draw tiles from a stock that is the same size as the number of tiles in their hand. The player who draws the highest double or a double or a single begins play. If a tie exists, the rules of some games specify that the player drawing the heaviest tile begins play. In other games, the winner of the last game may draw a certain number of tiles and begin play. Depending on the game, other rules are also in effect, such as that only doubles may be added to the line of play and that the line of play must be kept clear of singles.