Domino, also dominoes or domino pieces, are small rectangular blocks used in games of chance. Each block is marked on one side with an arrangement of dots or spots that resembles those on a die, while the other side is blank or identically patterned. A complete set of dominoes has 28 such pieces. When a domino is tipped, it causes the next piece to tip and so on in a chain reaction. This simple mechanism gives rise to the term domino effect, meaning any event that sets off a series of greater and often catastrophic consequences.
The first Domino’s restaurant opened in Ypsilanti, Michigan in 1960. The founder, Dominick Monaghan, placed the pizzerias in strategic locations near college campuses, a strategy that fueled rapid growth and helped the company establish its iconic brand.
By the 1980s, Domino’s had expanded worldwide. In 2009, the company began a new campaign under the leadership of then-President of USA Operations J. Patrick Doyle that aimed to address the main complaint customers had about the company—its pizza. The campaign was based on the principle of self-awareness, with Domino’s leaders reading scathing reviews of their food and stores in an effort to take responsibility for what went wrong in the past.
Domino’s strategy paid off, with the company experiencing a turnaround and becoming more successful than ever before. Domino’s is now one of the world’s largest pizza chains, with over 18,000 stores worldwide. The success of Domino’s is a lesson for entrepreneurs everywhere: to be successful, you have to own up to your mistakes and make changes.
In fiction, you can use a similar principle to create scenes that lead your reader along a clear path. Each scene is like a domino, with the final impact of your novel dependent on how well you place each one in succession.
This is a very important concept for writers to keep in mind as they work on their stories. It is easy to write an initial scene that looks good on its own, but it’s not enough to drive the story forward. Each scene should connect to the next in a way that makes sense to the reader, and should help advance your story’s plot or argument.
Hevesh is a domino artist who builds intricate and beautiful domino structures. She has a YouTube channel with over 2 million subscribers and has created domino installations for movie premieres, album launches, and events for pop star Katy Perry. Her most elaborate works involve 300,000 dominoes and can take several nail-biting minutes for the entire set to fall. Hevesh’s inspiration to become a domino artist was her father, who introduced her to the hobby when she was a child. She has since gone on to become a global phenomenon, with her artwork appearing in exhibitions and galleries around the world. She has even been featured in a national television commercial and on the cover of Domino magazine. She has a lot of advice for people who want to become domino artists, including focusing on their passion and making sure they get proper training.