Domino (also known as bones, cards, men or tiles) is a type of game that can be played with a variety of rules. It is typically played with a set of dominoes, which are double-sided rectangular blocks with a number of dots or pips on them. A domino is normally twice as long as it is wide, and the pips may be either black or white. The most common set used for domino games has a total of 28 dominoes, although larger sets exist. A domino can be made from a variety of materials, including bone, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell, ivory and a dark hardwood such as ebony. The earliest dominoes were probably made from wood, although they are now most commonly manufactured from polymer.

When a domino is arranged edge to edge on a table, the pips form a line of play that must be followed as each tile is played. This arrangement is called the layout or string, and it can be used to control scoring in positional games. As a tile is played, its end may be rotated to face the adjacent edges in an order specified by the rules of the game being played. The open end of a domino is sometimes called the spinner or tail.

Each domino has a number of pips that identify its value, or rank. A pips count of zero indicates that the domino has no value, while a pips count of one means it is a single-valued domino. Occasionally, a domino is blank, in which case it has no value at all. In other cases, a domino has a minus sign on its pips, which makes it a negative value.

As a result of its unique properties, a domino has great potential for power and momentum. Physicists have demonstrated that dominoes can move things nearly one-and-a-half times their size. In fact, University of Toronto physicist Stephen Morris has constructed an elaborate display in which thousands of dominoes stand unmoving, but the slightest nudge is enough to cause them all to topple.

Similarly, a scene that doesn’t have the energy or momentum to raise tension in a story can quickly fail to hook readers and keep them reading. The problem is especially acute for writers who plot less formally, such as those who use “pantsing” strategies instead of outlines or Scrivener.

Fortunately, there are many ways to improve the flow and impact of a story by listening to the voice of the reader and acting on their feedback. For example, when Domino’s employees complained about a strict dress code and high turnover rate, CEO David Brandon listened to them and quickly put new policies in place. The result was a revitalized company culture that led to improved customer satisfaction and the Top Workplaces Leadership Award from the Detroit Free Press. For more on how to listen to your customers, check out this article from The Week.