Windows 7: Document file editing

I notice whenever I use the Documents folder to type in lines of text arranged in columns, I can not edit the a line of text and move it up or down on the page as i would like to.Example, each line might be an author's name and it would be useful to arrange these authors in alphabetical order. At the moment, this seems to be impossible. Can anyone suggest a method of overcoming this problem?,. Thankyou.

The best way to sort a list would be to use a table.