Try-Fail Cycle – What Is It and Why Failure Is Essential for Growth?

The try-fail cycle is a concept found in every meaningful story—and it mirrors the exact way humans learn, grow, and transform. Whether in fiction or real life, progress rarely comes from instant success. Instead, it comes from repeated attempts, unexpected setbacks, and the willingness to adapt. What feels like failure is often the very mechanism that makes growth possible.

Definition: What Is the Try-Fail Cycle?
The try-fail cycle is a storytelling and learning framework in which a character makes repeated attempts to overcome a challenge. Each attempt either partially succeeds with new complications (“yes, but”) or fails in a way that makes the situation worse (“no, and”), forcing growth, adaptation, and deeper understanding.

A try-fail cycle is a component in every meaningful story in which a character must make several attempts to overcome the challenges and adversity in their path. Some of these attempts bring the character closer to their goal. Others take them farther away.

Every attempt changes the character, forcing them to learn, grow, and improve.

Every story poses a fundamental question:
How will the protagonist solve the problem that has turned their life upside down?

Every action the main character takes asks a smaller, related question:
Will this choice move them closer to solving the larger problem—or not?

The try-fail cycle is how stories explore those questions without resorting to easy answers.

In a try-fail cycle, there are two primary outcomes:

Yes, But…

The character moves closer to their goal, but new complications arise.

Example:
Yes, Morpheus escapes the agents who captured him, but he’s shot in the leg, Neo and Morpheus are dangling from a helicopter by a strap, and the helicopter itself is leaking fluid and about to crash.

Progress is made—but the situation becomes more complex.

No, And…

The attempt fails, and the situation becomes worse than before.

Example:
When agents show up at Neo’s job, he climbs out the window to escape them. Not only does he fail to get away, he is captured, interrogated, and subjected to one of the most disturbing scenes in the film as his mouth seals shut.

These outcomes are often summarized as:

No, and
Yes, but

What you will never find in a true try-fail cycle is instant success.

Storytellers understand that an easy story is a boring story. We expect characters to earn their happy endings through bravery, perseverance, and growth. Struggle is not filler—it’s the point.

The try-fail cycle originated as a writing technique, designed to add realism and build empathy for characters. It has been widely discussed and championed by authors such as Brandon Sanderson and Dan Wells, particularly through conversations on the Writing Excuses podcast. Like other powerful narrative frameworks—such as the Karpman Drama Triangle—the try-fail cycle proved so realistic that it found relevance far beyond fiction.

As the main character of your own life, it shouldn’t be surprising when try-fail cycles appear in your personal narrative.

And yet, they often catch us off guard.

We know intellectually that no meaningful story is easy. But when difficulty appears in our own lives, we protest it. We long for an easier story—only to find that when life becomes too easy, it feels empty and unsatisfying.

Restless, we search for fulfillment, only to discover that the thing we’re missing often arrives disguised as adversity.

In books and movies, we accept this truth easily.
In our own lives, we resist it—and are repeatedly disappointed.

Sometimes we’re tempted to quit altogether. But hiding from growth is the only real failure.

Many of us were taught that failure equals humiliation. But that belief is false.

Failure is information. It’s a data point in the process of learning.

When we adopt a growth mindset, failure becomes feedback. Even when an attempt makes things worse, it reveals something valuable: one more approach that doesn’t work. That insight shapes the next attempt.

When problems arise, we often assume we must have done something wrong. But adversity is not punishment—it’s a normal part of life.

Persistently facing challenges through repeated effort is how we build capacity, resilience, and skill.

Like putting in reps at the gym, try-fail cycles are how we grow stronger. They are the tools of transformation. Discomfort is the price of growth, and avoiding discomfort means avoiding improvement.

The try-fail cycle is so effective in stories because it reflects our natural learning process:

• Make a first attempt
• Discover unforeseen complications
• Adjust your approach
• Make a new attempt
• Encounter new challenges
• Gain insight and understanding
• Repeat until success is achieved

You can see this process everywhere:

• Athletic competition
• Remodeling projects
• Career advancement
• Skill-building of any kind

As the military saying goes:
“No plan survives first contact with the enemy.”

Success is not a straight line—it’s an evolving process of adaptation. Failure is the teacher that prepares you for victory.

✅ Growth mindset
✅ 3 Ps of failure

✅ Episode 005 – Embracing Struggles: How Challenges Fuel Growth & Success
✅ Episode 017 – What Is the Try-Fail Cycle? – How Struggle Makes You Stronger
✅ Embracing the Struggle: How to Overcome Life’s Challenges and Grow

*️⃣ Writing Excuses podcast – S10E29
*️⃣Brandon Sanderson – YouTube

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