Yes, we have discovered a seemingly obvious thing. And you already know what it is, because you just read the title of this post.
But still, some details.
With the second half of a novel, you’ve got a much difficult task. You don’t just have to write half a novel, you have to write a half of a novel that matches another half of a novel! And I’m not just thinking the plot has to fit together, the second half resolving the problems posed in the first. You have to make sure characters stay consistent (or believably change). You have to keep certain themes or “refrains” (gimmicks) going on throughout the story.
Finally (and this maybe is the toughest part) you have to deal with the expectations that come with having already written half of a novel! If you’re writing the first half, you’ve got nothing to lose. You can write whatever you want—if it sucks it sucks. But if you write a bad second half of a novel, you . . . have wasted that first half of a novel (!)—one that you’ve already spent so much time and energy and “emotional capital” (i.e. focus and openness and empathy) into producing. You raise your hopes with the first half—‘Wow, look, I wrote half of it . . . I’m doing great, all I have to do is finish it . . .’ And then the pressure is on for the second half.
–or at least, so it seems with us.
Still, our young adult novel is coming along. It’s not done, but we are (as the above passage implies) definitely working on the second half.
Difficult Things 