Best Laid Plans

I was busily planning my writing this morning.  I had one chapter of my WIP done and figured if I write a chapter a week from now until the end of the year, I could finish by the end of the year as was my goal.  (P.S 13 weeks left of 2010, SCARY).

Then, I opened up my word document that housed my WIP and suddenly most of the first chapter was boxes.  No idea why and there’s no rhyme or reason for where the text starts back up again.  It’s just gone.  And of course this is the first novel I’ve been working on that I haven’t also been posting to Google Docs.  So, it’s just gone.

Now, I don’t know what to do.  Try to recreate what I lost?  Or explore the other idea I had for starting the novel itself a little later than originally planned.  At the real point of change, rather than when the heroine returns to her home town.  Pros and cons to each, and so I’m debating all over again.  Because I have some of what I lost handwritten, but not all.

Is this some kind of cosmic hint that I should *stop writing *change the beginning *write something else *get psychiatric help for thinking computer malfunctions are cosmic hints.

So, now I’m behind and stuck and (per usual) overanalyzing life’s little mishaps.

My poor brain.