So, just to check, I opened the document back up and every single word of the 2000 plus I had written was not there. For some bizarre reason I didn't click save even a single time last night during that writing. Now, I'm the type who clicks the save button every few paragraphs out of habit.
Why I didn't do it a single time last night I have no clue.
So, I lost over 2000 words. And they were good words too. A few of them were a slight extension of the chapter I had finished the previous evening. The bulk were the next chapter. I was not happy with myself, to say the least.
So what did I do? Nothing. I had to stay up to work on a software update in the middle of the night, but I spent the remaining time watching a bunch of DVR'd episodes of Corner Gas. I put the story out of mind until this evening.
And I opened up my Word document to rewrite the last little bit of the previous chapter and suddenly the scene was not ended and the chapter was not ended and a key scene I had no idea how or when I would be able to write busted through and demanded it would be right now.
So, I ended up adding 2500 pages to this chapter and took a major step in the relationship between one of the main characters and another important character. And I think I managed to actually pull it off.
So, now I get to continue with the new chapter, which switches back to the main POV character. Now I just have to figure out if I should rewrite the scene I wrote last night, or go with this idea that has been tapping the back of my brain instead.
Since I have another middle of the night bit of work for my day job I can take my time to decide.
So, the one time I manage to delete my daily writing work for the first time in more than 10 years, it ends up making the book much better. I wonder if somehow my subconscious knew what it was doing?