How Dominoes Are Like Scenes in a Story
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Dominoes are small, rectangular blocks used to play a game. They are normally twice as long as they are wide, and each side is printed with a number of spots, called pips, to represent different values. When a domino is set down, its pips match those of the end of a line of dominoes already in place. The player then attempts to set down more dominoes with values matching those of the dominoes already on the table.
Lily Hevesh, who created this mind-blowing 15-color spiral with 12,000 dominoes in 2017, started playing with the little wooden pieces when she was 9 years old. Her grandparents had a classic 28-pack, and she loved setting them up in straight or curved lines, flipping the first one and watching them all fall, one after another.
Hevesh now creates domino art for a living, and she uses the same method for her designs as the engineers who design bridges and skyscrapers. She begins by thinking about the theme of her installation and brainstorming images that reflect it. Next, she creates a diagram to map out her design. Finally, she calculates how many dominoes she’ll need and draws arrows showing the way they should fall.
As she sets up a new line of dominoes, Hevesh considers how the forces of gravity and friction will affect the order in which they fall. Then she tests her layout to see if it will work. She may have to add more dominoes or move some around to get the effect she wants.
When writing a story, each scene can be like a domino. A writer needs to make sure that each scene logically impacts the one before it, much like how each domino in a chain falls when someone steps on it. This is especially important if you’re a panster, or write without an outline.
The first domino to fall in a sequence is the opening scene, which should introduce readers to the main character and show them where they’re headed. Then, each subsequent scene should logically move the hero closer to or farther from their goal. At the same time, scenes should be short enough that readers don’t feel overloaded by information or bored by repetitive details.
The last domino to fall in a sequence is often the closing scene, which should wrap up everything that’s happened and leave readers feeling satisfied—or at least hungry for pizza. In addition, each scene should leave the reader with a sense of what happens afterward. If a scene’s outcome doesn’t match the logic of the previous scenes, the story won’t make sense. The reader will likely stop reading. The same goes for scenes that run against societal norms. If your hero does something immoral, it’s crucial to give readers a good reason to keep rooting for them. Otherwise, they’ll just switch off.