A domino is a flat thumbsized rectangular block bearing from one to six pips, like those on the face of a die, on each of two sides. The other side of a domino is either blank or identically patterned. Dominoes are used in various games where the players place them in lines and angular patterns. The rules of a particular game govern how the dominoes are played, but many of the basic principles are common to most domino games.
For example, a player must be careful to keep his dominoes facing in the direction they need to go in order to play them correctly. He also must be sure to pick up all the tiles that he drops before continuing his turn. If a domino is knocked off the table by another player’s play, it must be replaced at once before the other players’ turns can continue.
The simplest way to determine seating arrangements for a domino game with more than one player is by lot. After the stock of dominoes is shuffled, each player draws a tile from the stock. The player holding the domino with the greatest number of pips chooses his seat first. Then he seats himself to the left of the player who holds the next highest number of pips, and so on. If a tie is still tied, the players draw new dominoes until there is a winner.
Some dominoes have special markings on the pips, such as dots or arrows. These markings indicate that the domino can only be placed in certain positions on the line of play. This special feature makes these dominoes more valuable, and they are used in different ways than regular dominoes.
Hevesh grew up learning woodworking from his grandfather, who taught him how to use tools such as a drill press, radial arm saw, scroll saw, belt sander and welder. He uses these tools at his home workshop to create the domino pieces he sells. He tests each section of a piece to make sure it works correctly before assembling the whole structure. Hevesh is also a firm believer in listening to his customers, which has been an important part of the company’s success.
Similarly, writers who prefer to write by the seat of their pants rather than follow a strict outline or plot can still end up with scenes that don’t add up, as it were. If a scene doesn’t advance the story in any way or doesn’t have any logical impact on the scene that comes before it, then it probably shouldn’t be included.
One method for avoiding these kinds of scenes is to write a brief outline or plot in advance of writing the scene. Using software such as Scrivener can also be helpful in weeding out scenes that don’t advance the plot or raise tension. A basic rule of thumb is that a scene should have a “domino effect,” meaning that it should knock over other scenes to move the story forward.
