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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/30033
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/30033
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I'm writing a series, and I have two protagonists. Both are PoV characters, and both offer different viewpoints on the main conflict (an ongoing war). One is a respected general, has frequent contact with the leader of the army, and heads many campaigns. The other is a healer (the genre is fantasy-ish), is protected from the majority of combat, and spends most of the novel in a castle.

While these two characters are tied together by a single goal, they each have different plots, and those two plots have different and separate climaxes. Because of who and where they are, I cannot combine the climaxes. They might take place at the same time, but they are hundreds of miles apart.

**How do I handle multiple climaxes like this?** I understand how the novel has to lead up to the climax, and how the climax is followed by a short resolution, followed by the end of the book. I'm worried that if I put one climax after the other, one or both will be messed up in terms of how the reader sees them.

Is this a valid concern? Is there a way to write multiple climaxes, or should I stay away from it at all costs?

_Note:_ I've thought of the 'switching PoV' method, where I switch back and forth between each climax. My problem with this method is that the climaxes are totally different, and I feel that doing this will only serve to separate the reader from both.

_Second Note:_ Another possible way to deal with this is, since it is a series, to simply have only one climax per book. This of course means that one plot will not be resolved with every book, which seems to me would cause a bit of a problem.

Original score: 4