The Domino Effect
Dominoes are a kind of tabletop game where pieces, sometimes called men or bones, feature a value on one side and are blank or identically patterned on the other. The value is usually indicated by a series of dots called pips, but some pieces may have no pips and are therefore considered “blank.” The most common sets include 28 dominoes that fit neatly on the ends of a long line. Players place dominoes on the end of a line, and then when the first one is tipped, the rest will fall over, creating elaborate and rhythmic patterns. Stacks of dominoes can be used to play games with many different rules, and the term “domino effect” is often applied to any actions that cascade in a similar way.
The word “domino” is actually a contraction of two separate Latin terms. The first, domino, means “large” or “great.” A domino piece has an advantage over smaller ones because it is larger, but this size can also cause it to lose control. The second Latin term, domini, means “power” or “control.” The phrase is thus a pun on the fact that it takes a lot of power to knock over a domino chain, and even more to get one domino to tip another, or to stop a falling domino from continuing.
Physicists point to gravity as the key to dominoes’ effectiveness. When a domino is standing upright, it has potential energy because it’s being held up against the force of gravity, but when you tip it over, much of that potential energy is converted to kinetic energy, causing the next domino in line to fall and start the chain reaction all over again. Using this principle, scientists have been able to create giant chains of dominoes that can be as tall or as wide as people are.
Business professionals may use the phrase domino effect to describe any situation in which one small trigger causes a series of events with large consequences. For example, a medical professional who neglects to wash their hands after touching a patient can cause the patient to develop a dangerous infection that could spread throughout the hospital. This is known as a domino effect, and it’s one reason why hospitals now require doctors to wear gloves.
In writing, a domino effect can occur in stories with plots that don’t have enough structure. For example, if you are a “pantser” writer—that is, you don’t make detailed outlines of your story ahead of time—it can be easy to skip scenes that don’t fit together or don’t have enough impact on the scene ahead of it. This can result in a narrative that feels disjointed or uneven. You can try to prevent this by using a tool like Scrivener, which will help you create a detailed outline that can guide your storytelling. Alternatively, you can use scene cards to weed out unnecessary or repetitive scenes in your novel or short story.
Dominoes are a kind of tabletop game where pieces, sometimes called men or bones, feature a value on one side and are blank or identically patterned on the other. The value is usually indicated by a series of dots called pips, but some pieces may have no pips and are therefore considered “blank.” The most common sets include 28 dominoes that fit neatly on the ends of a long line. Players place dominoes on the end of a line, and then when the first one is tipped, the rest will fall over, creating elaborate and rhythmic patterns. Stacks of dominoes can be used to play games with many different rules, and the term “domino effect” is often applied to any actions that cascade in a similar way. The word “domino” is actually a contraction of two separate Latin terms. The first, domino, means “large” or “great.” A domino piece has an advantage over smaller ones because it is larger, but this size can also cause it to lose control. The second Latin term, domini, means “power” or “control.” The phrase is thus a pun on the fact that it takes a lot of power to knock over a domino chain, and even more to get one domino to tip another, or to stop a falling domino from continuing. Physicists point to gravity as the key to dominoes’ effectiveness. When a domino is standing upright, it has potential energy because it’s being held up against the force of gravity, but when you tip it over, much of that potential energy is converted to kinetic energy, causing the next domino in line to fall and start the chain reaction all over again. Using this principle, scientists have been able to create giant chains of dominoes that can be as tall or as wide as people are. Business professionals may use the phrase domino effect to describe any situation in which one small trigger causes a series of events with large consequences. For example, a medical professional who neglects to wash their hands after touching a patient can cause the patient to develop a dangerous infection that could spread throughout the hospital. This is known as a domino effect, and it’s one reason why hospitals now require doctors to wear gloves. In writing, a domino effect can occur in stories with plots that don’t have enough structure. For example, if you are a “pantser” writer—that is, you don’t make detailed outlines of your story ahead of time—it can be easy to skip scenes that don’t fit together or don’t have enough impact on the scene ahead of it. This can result in a narrative that feels disjointed or uneven. You can try to prevent this by using a tool like Scrivener, which will help you create a detailed outline that can guide your storytelling. Alternatively, you can use scene cards to weed out unnecessary or repetitive scenes in your novel or short story.