In fiction, the way to drag the reader further into the story, and have them glued to see what happens next in the trainwreck… I mean, the plot that is inflicting itself upon your protagonist… is the “Yes, but / no, and”. Try-fail cycles don’t always fail… but they always come with more complications, right up to the climax.

Either it’s… Did it work? Yes, but it required this complication, or this mistake was made that’s going to bite your hero later, or it uncovered yet more questions or problems…

Or it’s… Did it work? No, and furthermore, the failure used up the thing you don’t have more of, it exposed you to the notice of the bad guys, it created yet more complications you’re going to have to deal with…

Keep in mind that these have to lead somewhere, otherwise you get lost in the weeds. Where is it leading?

In plot-oriented books, the try-fail cycles of the middle lead up to finding the missing piece needed to tie the whole thing together, and then you’ve switched from an ever-expanding pool of complications and problems into a rapidly shrinking pool of options and solutions with ratcheting stakes.

In character-arc-driven books, the the try-fail cycles of the middle lead up to the long dark night of the soul, which may be a simple moment, or may be broody navel gazing for a couple pages. Either way, it crystallizes in a decision for the protagonist to… protag. To act upon the story, instead of being acted upon, to change themselves and the outcome. At which point they act upon the information, whether for good or for ill, and drive the decisions and changes, internal and external, home through ever-increasing stakes and shrinking options.

In books with plot and character arcs, you need both of these – and they may not be at the same place and time. In fact, they often aren’t, because you didn’t weight both of them equally. In movies, they are often one and the same – but that’s because movies are usually structured like novellas (100 pages, single storyline, few characters), so they don’t have much time to spare. In a 300-page book? Which is your plot, and which is your subplot? If you have multiple subplots, they will absolutely hit the decision point at different places in the story…

So if you find yourself running dry in the middle, the answer may not be more worldbuilding or more try-fail cycles. It may be casting an eye on your plots and subplots, and saying “when is the character making life-changing, or plot-trajectory-changing decisions? When will the tone change from ‘auuugh!’ to ‘We’re going anyway’?”