Many children enjoy playing games with dominoes, those little black and white rectangles that can be lined up in long rows and then knocked down. They are also used in mathematical polygons and can be arranged to create a variety of shapes.

The word domino is a Latin phrase meaning “fall over.” When played correctly, a domino chain can be very impressive. In fact, the film While You Were Sleeping featured a scene where Sandra Bullock knocked over a large stack of dominos!

A domino is one of the 28 pieces that make up a domino set. Depending on the game, each domino may have different numbers of spots or pips on each end. A piece may also have blank ends, which are considered to have zero value. Generally, each domino is twice as wide as it is tall. This makes them easy to stack and re-stack.

In most domino games, each player places a domino edge to edge against another in such a way that the adjacent faces are either identical (e.g., 5 to 5) or form some specified total. The total of the pips on each end of the domino is called its rank or value. A higher-ranking domino is more valuable, and thus a better choice for beginning the chain.

Each game of domino is usually played in rounds, with each player taking turns placing a domino so that it touches one end of a preceding domino. Then the players continue to place dominoes, forming a chain until it is complete. The first player to play all of their dominoes wins the game.

If a player can’t place a domino on the table, they must “chip out.” This means that the next player will have to try and play a piece that matches the previous domino in terms of number of pips or rank. This continues until either a single player wins by playing all of their remaining dominoes, or the players reach a point where none can play anymore.

Dominoes have a very interesting property known as inertia. In other words, they have a tendency to stay where they are until pushed over by some outside force. But once a domino passes its tipping point, the potential energy that was stored in it becomes available to push on other pieces. This explains why it only takes a very small initial nudge to begin a chain that can grow and grow until it covers the entire table.

As a writer, you can use this same idea to your advantage. If you’re a pantser, or don’t outline your story ahead of time with tools like Scrivener, you may find yourself writing scenes that are at the wrong angle or don’t have enough logical impact on the scene before it. To prevent this, take a moment to check your scenes for the same reasons you’d check a domino. Are they all connected logically and able to create the tension your story needs to keep readers engaged?