If there is a single writing exercise that can transform your storytelling abilities, it is, without a doubt, this one.

“Yes, But; No, And” is by far my favorite writing exercise and the one I turn to when plotting my novels. And the one I return to once I have finished the first draft. Why? Because this exercise easily allows you to identify areas of your manuscript that lack tension.

Without tension, your readers will not be engaged by your story. Without stakes, your plot can’t be interesting. And without consistent conflict, your characters will bore.

This one writing exercise will help you with all three of these issues.

It All Has to Do with Try/Fail Cycles

We’ve all heard the phrase, “hurt your hero.” It can be difficult advice to follow–after all, you created this character. You love this character. And you want them to succeed.

Hurting them sounds as awful as hurting your own child.

But the fact is, readers want to watch your hero fail. Failure is what builds character–it’s what makes them interesting. Plus, watching someone fail breeds empathy in the observer. And, most importantly, the struggle toward the goal is what makes the story.

If your character doesn’t fail, its going to be one short story.

Of course, if your hero fails and gives up on the first attempt, the story isn’t going to be very long either.

In order to build a compelling, engaging, and enjoyable story, your hero has to try and fail and try and fail–over and over until the final resolution.

This is what is known as a try/fail cycle.

But simply watching a character struggle and get nowhere isn’t what we want. Instead, we want each fail to raise the stakes of the story. And each success to do the same.

YES the hero succeeded, BUT now there is a bigger problem

So, is our hero never allowed to succeed?

They can, in a way…

There is a difference between, “YES my hero succeeded at overcoming that conflict, now let’s move on to something else entirely” and “YES my hero succeeded at overcoming that conflict BUT because of that success, now has a bigger conflict to deal with.”

A YES, is boring. A YES, BUT is compelling. It’s also a form of failure.

If you save the world from an asteroid but accidentally release a gigantic cloud of radioactive gas in the process, you haven’t exactly succeeded. You have basically failed. But in a way that makes your audience more interested in what happens next.

Popular examples of YES, BUT successes:

• Back to the Future: YES Marty succeeds in escaping the gunmen trying to kill him and Doc, BUT now he is stuck in the past.
• E.T.: YES Elliott succeeds in coaxing the alien into his room, BUT now he has to hide it from his family.
• Toy Story: Yes, Woody succeeds in getting rid of Buzz, BUT now everyone hates him.

NO the hero did not succeed, AND something even worse happened

A simple NO is as boring to read about as a simple YES.

To create compelling true failures that build tension instead of frustrate it, you need to up the stakes each time your hero fails.

Instead of, “NO my hero didn’t succeed, now they have to try to solve the same problem again,” you want, “NO my hero didn’t succeed AND their attempt actually created another problem that now also needs to be solved.”

Not only did you fail to destroy the asteroid headed toward Earth, but you created a toxic gas cloud with your failed attempt. Now you must solve both problems before it is too late.

Popular examples of NO, AND failures:

• Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack fails to escape his prison cell AND now his old crew knows he is still alive.
• Die Hard: John fails to get the police to take him seriously AND he alerts the terrorists to his location.
• Avengers Infinity War: Tony Stark fails to get Thanos’ gauntlet AND is now stuck in space after all his friends fade away.

Now for the Writing Exercise…

Ready to take the pulse of your own story to find out if you have built a compelling try/fail cycle?

Use these three steps below. You can apply them during the planning/outlining process or after you have already finished writing the story.

I recommend doing both to assure a compelling journey, but one that comes together with consistent tension throughout.

Step 1: List all the major conflicts in your story

Think of conflicts as any problem your hero needs to solve.

This can be anything from proving their worth to a friend to an incoming world-ending asteroid. Your genre will determine a lot about the types and degrees of conflicts your hero will encounter.

Some of your conflicts may be focused on the overall goal of the story while others may have to do with subplots. You may even find conflicts that arise out of nowhere (a fight with a spouse, a broken-down car). As long as you have plenty of conflict throughout the story, you are on the right track.

Make a list of each major conflict and where it appears in the story (i.e. “scene 3.” “page 52”).

Step 2: Figure out if your hero succeeds

Now, for each listed conflict, answer the simple question: “Does the hero succeed?”

If they solve the problem at hand, the answer is YES. If they don’t, the answer is NO.

Step 3: Identify the BUTs and ANDs

Now, determine if you succeeded in raising the stakes after each conflict by identifying the consequences of the success or failure.

Did your hero succeed in outrunning his pursuers and make it home safe? Or did he outrun them BUT get lost in the city in the process? (Hint: You want the second one.)

Did your hero fail at stealing the ruby and move on to some new heist? Or did he fail AND end up in jail? (Again, you want–and more importantly, your readers want–the second one.)

Tip: Keep an Eye Out for Red Flags

This exercise can pinpoint a lot of red flags in your storytelling. These red flags typically represent lulls in tension, breaks in the story arch, and confusion about your character’s goals.

Too many YESes without BUTs

It’s okay for your character to succeed every once in a while, as long as these successes are small and have to do with subplots and minor conflicts. You want to save that big success for the end of your book.

If you find you have too many YESes without BUTs, consider what might happen if your character actually failed. Or, figure out a way to mutate their success to cause more conflict than it solves.

Here is an example I faced in my own writing recently:

• My hero wanted to leave the safety of their hideout. To do so, she had to convince her lover she would be safe and could accomplish the group’s goal better than anyone else. She found success by convincing him to come with her.

Writing it this way failed to up the tension. My hero got what she wanted: to leave the hideout. And she got the bonus of convincing her lover to leave too–which she hoped would give them time to work on their relationship.

To up the tension, I changed the character’s desires slightly. I also rewrote how the conversation transpired. Now the scene goes like this:

• My hero wants to leave the hideout. She manages to convince her lover to let her go, but he gives the stipulation that he must go with her. Something that (in this version) she does not want to happen because she is worried about her safety and now she has to worry about his as well.

In this version, she succeeds in getting away from the hideout BUT now has the secondary internal conflict about having put her lover in danger.

Too many NOs without ANDs

The occasional YES without a BUT is okay, but a NO without an AND doesn’t typically work.

If your hero simply gives up on a problem and about-faces to take on something unrelated, it will leave your reader feeling discombobulated.

If it happens after a major conflict, it could completely wreck your story arch. If it happens after a minor conflict, it begs the question, why have it in the story at all?

It is possible for your character to never solve a problem, but the AND needs to be there to connect that failure with the greater story. Maybe your scientist never stops the asteroid. And that toxic cloud he created turns everyone into zombies that he has to battle in the apocalyptic hellscape left after the impact.

If you are writing a tragedy, it is possible to end the book on a simple fail. But even here, there is often some closure or success–what I would call a NO, BUT.

One great example of this is Fight Club. The Narrator fails to stop Tyler’s plot to destroy all the credit card buildings, but he gains a better understanding of himself.

Not enough conflicts

When going through the first step of this writing exercise, look at the flow of conflicts throughout the story.

In general, the number and intensity of conflicts will increase as you approach the climax. If this isn’t the case, it might be time to reexamine your plot.

Tracking the page number or scene number the conflicts appear on/in will also help you determine where you might have lulls in the action.

If you see a twenty-page gap in conflicts midway through the book, you may want to add a fight to one of the scenes. Or, you may want to cut those scenes entirely. Most likely, if they don’t add tension, they aren’t necessary to the plot. Any necessary details revealed in the scene can be added back in elsewhere.

Ready, Set, Write!

Now that you know what a compelling try/fail cycle looks like and have the three steps of this writing exercise to help you map your own, it’s time to write!

If you want to learn more about try/fail cycles, check out this great post by Karen Woodward.

If you find a great example of a YES/BUT or NO/AND conflict in your book, share it in the comment section below!