Well, in fairness if you wanted to- a good incubator is set it and forget it! Like an easy-bake over. The Brinsea I mentioned that I use, you literally just have to fill up a little cup in the middle with water... that's it lol. 28 days later or so, it's full of chicks! Lots of fun. No...
Not faulting you at all, in fact I was complimenting you for giving it a shot. I was just saying if you want to be in chickens and have broody hens- it's a great thing to have an incubarot around for when things go wrong- which they will, and often. :) I can't imagine doing wet paper towels...
You should really invest in an incubator. A decent little one like a Brinsea Mini Advance II will take out all of the stress and sadness you are dealing with. Just based on how effected by this you are in your post- it's worth the spend.
That all said, we make mistakes- and the hens make...