We’ve all seen those amazing domino constructions where, after tipping one piece ever so slightly, all the others fall in a beautiful cascade of rhythmic motion. This is known as the “domino effect.” When it comes to writing, if you think of your scenes in terms of this domino effect, you may be able to see how your story will flow more effectively.
Domino is a flat thumbsized rectangular block with one face that’s either blank or patterned with an arrangement of dots, called pips, like the dots on a die or the suits on playing cards. Each side of the domino has a value indicated by its pips; for example, a piece with six pips is higher in value than one with only four. There are several games that can be played with dominoes, some involving blocking or scoring, and others in which dominoes are placed in lines or angular patterns. A complete set of dominoes contains 28 pieces.
When Hevesh creates her mind-blowing domino setups, she starts by considering the theme or purpose of the display. Then she brainstorms images or words that might be appropriate to use. After that, she puts the pieces in a pattern that makes sense to her and then lays them out. Some of her most complex domino creations take up to a day to fully complete.
Hevesh’s dominoes stand right where she put them, unmoving because they have inertia, a tendency to resist motion unless a force is applied. But when she gives the first one a slight nudge, it takes less than a second for gravity to pull it over and unleash a chain reaction of its own. The energy of the first domino travels through the rest of the stack and pushes each subsequent domino to its tipping point.
Physicists who study the behavior of objects use this concept to understand how the universe works. For example, a team of scientists used this principle to calculate how much energy it would take to knock over 13 massive dominoes in a row. The researchers found that the 13 dominoes needed only about a billion times as much potential energy as the first domino.
This is why the physics of the Domino Effect is so astonishing and impressive. The power of a small action to generate a huge result is a great metaphor for how tiny actions can have big effects in our lives and businesses.
In addition to creating amazing domino displays, Hevesh also uses the domino effect in her work as a professional artist. She has a YouTube channel where she shares her creations and has done some commercial domino work, including helping to launch an album for the singer Katy Perry. She has a lot of faith in the power of the domino effect to help people find success in whatever they do. She says, “If you want to achieve something in life, you have to be ready to start your dominoes falling.” For anyone hoping to build a career in anything, it’s important not to wait for opportunities to come your way; you need to go out and create them.