All those cluttered files!

Hello Gals and Guys   Yesterday I came to my senses and got down to sorting  a load of chaotic files.   I am coming to the end of a long  family saga which I have been writing over a period of about five years, when time permits between regular and commissioned work.    It is based on members of my Mother's family who were builders in Plymouth UK and in1882 arrived in Sydney to, very successfully, do that here!    It's meant a lot of interesting research and I plan it to end it  ten years later.   It  is vast. (Move over 'War and Peace'!)   My files were cluttered up with ideas for plot  development - some I've used some I haven't -  a lot of factual  stuff about  the City and indeed Melbourne, where a considerable amount of the action takes place,  fashions of the period, cemeteries, long closed department stores - you name it -  it  was all there; and especially scores of emails from a wonderful chap who researched every member of my family - The Tapsons  - these I still treasure.   All my sorting and clearing out took hours, and when I'd finished I didn't think I'd thrown out very much; but when I replaced my files in their usual little drawers I realised how well I'd done - there is actually space!  And I don't go mad when papers crush up as I attempt open them. . .     Mind you, on Thursday I  spent a few lovely hours in the nearby Stanton Library  which has a vast Historic Section covering North Sydney. . . and now I have some new trails that I'll be using in the next few days - so here we go again!   Nevertheless, I feel pleased, smug and and satisfied with my efforts.