A domino is a flat, thumb-sized rectangular block, one side bearing an arrangement of dots or pips (usually black or white) and the other blank. Several types of games can be played with dominoes, some of them using a single set and others requiring multiple sets in order to play.
A domino has inertia, which means that it resists motion unless there is a force pushing on it. Once the first domino is pushed past its tipping point, however, it releases potential energy to push the next domino over and on and on, in a sequence called a domino effect or a domino chain.
Dominoes can be used to create a variety of forms, including straight lines, curved lines, grids that form pictures, and 3D structures such as towers and pyramids. In domino shows, builders often compete for the most complex and imaginative domino effects or reactions. Some builders construct huge structures that can be seen by a large audience, and others use the same materials to demonstrate scientific principles such as gravity and friction.
A set of dominoes, or a deck of dominoes, may be made of wood, clay, Bakelite and other phenolic resins, or synthetic materials such as ABS plastics or polystyrene. Modern sets usually feature different colors for the pips to help distinguish between them and to facilitate matching up ends. The pips are also sometimes color-coded to indicate a suit. Doubles belong to only one suit, while singles can be assigned to two suits.
When you play a game of domino, all the tiles in your hand must be matched with the ends of other tiles on the table in a specific way. Each tile has a number of dots on one end that identifies it, and the other side is blank or identically patterned to make matching easier. The pips also serve to divide a set into different suits, with each suit having its own scoring rules.
While Domino’s Pizza may be best known for its franchised restaurants, it also sells its products in a number of grocery stores and through its own online delivery service. Their corporate culture is centered around listening to employees, customers, and the community. The CEO Don Meij has personally visited many of their stores and listened to the concerns and suggestions of their employees in an effort to improve the company. The company’s focus on customer service has paid off with top ratings in the Detroit Free Press Top Workplaces survey.
Whether you write your novel off the cuff, as some people do, or follow a careful outline, the goal of narrative is to create scenes that have logical impact on each other and build suspense. Like dominoes, if you are not careful to place your scenes in the right position and at the right time, your story will eventually fall apart. Fortunately, there are tools such as Outliners or Scrivener that can help you get your scenes in the right order.
