Question for Writers

[rolanni]

...especially those who are living in small spaces.

Where do you keep all the paper and other records attached to the business of writing? Here at the Confusion Factory, we have four five-drawer file cabinets, plus overflow in file boxes in the basement. Granted, we're running two businesses out of the house -- SRM Publisher, and the Lee-Miller Authoring Empire -- but it comes to me that we are perhaps ...overzealous... in the matter of keeping papers.

Comments

[torrilin.livejournal.com]

My father's business is run out of a 2 drawer and 4 drawer filing cabinet, both quite full. However... that does not include the box of plans, or any of the other large papers, just the basics of bills and such. He's also made a great deal of effort to eliminate needless paper in his business.

The amount you're keeping sounds much in excess of what he keeps, but a hardcopy of at least a final manuscript draft (for more secure backup) would take up rather a lot of room. So it doesn't sound totally unreasonable. It might be sensible to look over how long you're keeping financial records, and perhaps audit yourselves to see that only those required for regular business use are kept after the IRS audit period.