A pattern where the protagonist attempts to solve a problem, fails, adjusts their approach, and tries again, building tension with each attempt.
A try-fail cycle is a storytelling pattern where your protagonist takes action toward their goal, encounters an obstacle or complication, and fails, but in a way that changes the situation and forces them to try a new approach. The key word there is "new." Each attempt should be different from the last, each failure should raise the stakes, and each cycle should reveal something about the character. You typically need at least two or three failures before the protagonist finally succeeds (or fails permanently), because a character who succeeds on the first try has not earned the victory.
Try-fail cycles are the engine of narrative tension. A protagonist who walks through obstacles without resistance is boring. A protagonist who gets knocked down, gets up, tries something different, gets knocked down harder, and still finds a way to keep going is someone readers root for. These cycles also prevent your plot from feeling like a straight line from problem to solution. Real problem-solving is messy and iterative, and try-fail cycles make fiction feel that way too.
The entire novel is one long chain of try-fail cycles. Mark Watney solves the food problem but then the habitat blows up. He fixes communication but then faces a navigation crisis. Each solution creates a new problem, and each failure demands more creativity.
The gauntlet of challenges at the end (the Devil's Snare, the flying keys, the chess game, the potions puzzle) is a compressed sequence of try-fail cycles, each requiring a different character's strength to overcome.
John McClane's attempts to stop the terrorists escalate beautifully. Call the police (they do not believe him). Pull the fire alarm (Hans overrides it). Radio for help (the FBI makes things worse). Each failure strips away options and raises stakes.
Each attempt must be different. If your character keeps doing the same thing and failing the same way, the reader loses patience. Failure should force adaptation.
A single attempt followed by success feels too easy. You generally need two to four failures before a success feels earned. The more important the goal, the more failures it should take.
Each failure should make the situation worse, not just leave it unchanged. If the character fails but nothing changes, the cycle is treading water.
The final success should come because the character learned something from their failures, not because they got lucky. The try-fail cycle should teach them what they need to know.
Give your protagonist a clear goal and then write three consecutive failures, each one different from the last. Make the first failure a simple setback, the second failure something that makes the situation actively worse, and the third failure something caused by the protagonist's own flaw. Then write the moment where the character finally succeeds, using a lesson learned from their failures. Notice how the success feels earned.