Dominoes and NovelsDominoes and Novels
Dominoes are a generic term for the tiles used to play a variety of games. Each domino is typically twice as long as it is wide, and the identifying marks, or “pips,” on one side of the tile indicate its value. The other face is blank or identically patterned to the pips. These pips are normally black, but they may be painted or made from other materials such as ivory, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (mother of pearl), or woods such as ebony. The earliest domino sets were made of natural materials such as these, with a more traditional look and feel than modern polymer dominoes.
When a player places the first domino, they must then match it with another domino of the same color or value. The dominoes are then placed edge to edge, with the ends touching. This creates a chain that will eventually topple over. The player who is able to do this first wins the game.
Hevesh has a knack for creating mind-blowing domino setups that are arranged into intricate designs. She even has a YouTube channel that’s dedicated to her amazing creations. The process of putting together her largest displays can take several nail-biting minutes as she carefully checks each section to make sure it will fall according to plan.
A key piece of the Domino’s strategy that helped turn things around in recent years has been listening to customers. Under previous CEO David Brandon, Domino’s established an employee-training program and college recruiting system that focused on customer feedback. When Doyle took over, he continued these programs and also sought out direct feedback from employees through a Detroit Free Press survey. This approach was key to helping Domino’s get back on track, and it’s something other companies should consider.
Like a domino set, writing a novel often comes down to plotting scenes that work together in a way that will create suspense for your readers. Whether you write by the seat of your pants or use a more structured method such as outlines and Scrivener, a good plot will help you answer one crucial question: What happens next? If a scene you’ve written doesn’t fit in with the scenes before it, or if it fails to build on the emotional beats that came before it, then you need to rework it.
Taking the time to plot out your novel’s scene structure can help you avoid this problem. When you’re done, just like a good domino set, it’s important to test each scene to make sure that they all connect and lead to the right destination.