This last week I finished the index for a large institutional history, 550 pages, including endnotes. It was one of the more challenging books I have indexed. I will not yet reveal the name of the institution, or the title or author, as the book is not yet published, but… Read More »Indexing Institutional Histories: A Case Study
Indexes for fiction seems to be a recurring topic among indexers. I do not know of anyone who has actually written an index like this, but we sure like to talk about it. Someone recently raised the issue again on one of the indexing email lists, and it just so… Read More »Indexing Fiction: The Wheel of Time Case Study
I am entering the final stretch of scrambling to wrap up projects before I leave tomorrow for a week-long holiday. I have yet to manage a smooth transition from work to holiday. Somehow I just cannot seem to finish projects until the very last minute. Sometimes I end up taking… Read More »Holidays, and the Fear of Missing Out
Last Saturday I presented my first webinar on indexing, hosted by the Writers’ Guild of Alberta. A couple of weeks ago I gave a similar presentation to the Editors Canada twig here in Edmonton. Many thanks to both groups for allowing me to present. I learned a lot, both about… Read More »Indexing Basics, Reflections on
It has so far been a busy summer. That means tight deadlines and renewed thoughts about how to be more efficient in my indexing process. I mean, indexing is tough. It is constant analysis, understanding what the text means and discerning how to make the text accessible to readers. If… Read More »Three Indexing Mind Hacks
It occurred to me, after I published the post a couple of weeks ago on how to define and self-assess experience, that imposter syndrome is closely related. How many freelancers experience that? I do. Imposter syndrome is that nagging feeling that my accomplishments are all a fraud. I don’t actually… Read More »Standing Up to Imposter Syndrome
Experience can be tricky to define and gauge. As a freelancer, what standard do you compare yourself to? When are you no longer a “newbie”? Some professional societies, such as the UK’s Society of Indexers or Editors Canada, offer certification, which can be helpful. Many others do not offer these… Read More »Defining Experience, One Index (and One Tree) at a Time
I leave Wednesday morning for the Indexing Society of Canada’s annual conference, held this year in Winnipeg. Departure is now less than forty-eight hours away. This last week I have been counting down the projects I need to finish before I leave. My goal is to finish the last index… Read More »Confessions from a Tight Schedule
“How long does it take to index a book, anyway?” This is one of the most common questions I am asked by non-indexers. It is a fair question. What is this alchemy of words and numbers that I do from which an index is created? Do I actually have to… Read More »How to Marinate an Index and Other Time Factors
My childhood was conducted in three languages. At home, my family spoke English. School, from grade one to halfway through grade three, was conducted in Mandarin Chinese (half way through grade three I transferred to the English-speaking international school, where we still had daily Mandarin classes). The language spoken at… Read More »Code-Switching, in Language and in Freelance Life