Article
February 8, 2019
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by Stephen

Indexing as Deep Work

Photo by Nathan Ziemanski on Unsplash

Deep work, as defined by Cal Newport in his book of the same title, is “professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate.”

As I was reading Newport’s book on this topic, it struck me that indexing is ideally suited for deep work. Especially as I work as a full-time indexer, with often a handful of deadlines in a month, I need to spend several hours every day, sitting at my computer, indexing. I need to be able to see, understand, and hold in my mind both the overarching argument or structure of the book (as well as the overarching structure of the index) as well as the smaller details that flesh out that argument and structure. I am creating a document from scratch that to some extent is unique to me, in that other indexers would write their own variations. And the index will, I hope, add value to the book and for readers. It is not something that is easy to replicate. 

Newport identifies shallow work as being the opposite of deep work. This is work that is low value, non-cognitively demanding, and easily done by someone else. The trick, to reach professional goals or to simply stay on top of deadlines, is to focus on performing deep work—what does drive value—and to minimize or eliminate shallow work. 

I think this distinction between deep and shallow work also applies to indexing, and is highlighted by the contract nature of freelancing. Being a freelancer gives me a lot of freedom in how I use my time—which can be used poorly to read the news or watch Youtube videos. It also means that I need to be aware of and responsive to my email inbox, both for new project offers and to be responsive to existing clients. I would say this is all shallow work, because while I do need to communicate with clients and have a method for accepting new projects, I don’t get paid for checking email. While I do need some breaks throughout the day when I index, news and Youtube can serve as distractions and prove to be less effective as breaks if they are taking me away from indexing. While shallow work is not necessary bad, if we do not prioritize deep work and find ways to keep shallow work at bay during those times, then deep work is unlikely to happen.

So how to prioritize deep work?

Newport’s book has challenged me to rethink how I work. In particular, what are my distractions and how do I handle them? Distractions, even ones that seem fairly innocuous, pull you out of a state of concentration and it can take several minutes to return to the task at hand. This happening once isn’t too bad, but if it is repeated throughout the day those minutes can add up. In my experience, distractions also build upon each other. If I follow that sudden urge to check a fact on Wikipedia, I am likely to have subsequent sudden urges that will be harder to resist. I find distractions can also cause a lot of stress and anxiety, because while a part of me is enjoying the distraction, another part is aware that I am falling behind on the task I should be focused on, which creates a vicious cycle. The more anxious I become the more I seek distractions to sooth the anxiety.

As I have come to realize, the costs to the quality of the indexes I write, how quickly I can index, and the stress I inflict on myself through distractions are too high. At least, I do not want to pay them anymore. I know I can’t eliminate every single distraction, but I can do a lot to eliminate most of them, at least the ones that are self-inflicted. 

So far, I’ve come up with a few strategies to better facilitate deep work. Here are three of them:

  • I use the Freedom app to block myself from most news sites and blogs that I typically frequent. The only day I allow myself to browse these sites are Sundays. I have a different block for social media. This does not work perfectly as there are, of course, other news sites and blogs that I have not yet discovered (and which I subsequently have to block), but overall I do feel much more focused and less anxious. And to be honest, I find I don’t really miss the news. I still get a general sense of what is happening in the world from talking to other people and hearing snippets on the radio, and I have enough interesting things to focus on among my own work.
  • I have stopped checking email in the mornings, and I try to only check email twice in the afternoon. I have been surprised at the results. I have come to value my distraction-free mornings, which is when I can create my best and most important work. So far clients have not noticed or commented on slower replies.
  • I take a long break in the middle of the day. I go to the local YMCA, and depending on the day I either join a circuit training class or I swim. I also eat lunch. All of this takes about an hour and a half. What makes this work is that if I get out of bed on time, I have three hours of deep work in the morning, and then another three and a half hours of deep work in the afternoon. The exercise gives me a chance to rest my brain and recharge for the afternoon session.

These new habits do, I realize, introduce some inconveniences for myself and others. I am not likely to reply immediately to an email. There have been times my wife has forwarded me an interesting news article which I cannot read because of the internet blocks I have in place. Last Sunday, I was surprised to learn that the Super Bowl was happening, and realized I had completely missed the buildup. 

I think the trade-offs are worth it, though. If my clients are hiring me to index, and if indexing requires long periods of concentration, and if I want to produce quality indexes while also preserving time for rest in the evenings and on weekends, then I need to structure my workday and put safeguards in place to make sure that indexing happens in the scheduled hours. I wish I could say that I did not need these safeguards, but I have come to realize that I do. 

The questions are fairly simple: What are my priorities? How do I create lasting value for myself and for others? What do I need to do to make sure these happen?

Article
December 9, 2018
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by Stephen

Book Review: Indexing Children’s Books

I recently indexed a book for children, which is a departure from my usual work. Making the project even more unique, the book was adapted from the original adult version, which I indexed a couple of years ago. I believe the book sold quite well, and hopefully this children’s version does too. It is a book about trees.

I haven’t indexed for children before, but I knew enough, from what other indexers have said, to know that some of the conventions and best practices are different. Learning to use an index is an acquired skill, which children may not have yet. Fortunately, I have on my bookshelf a slim booklet, Indexing Children’s Books, by K.G.B Bakewell and Paula L. Williams. It was published in the UK by the Society of Indexers in 2000, and is still available for purchase on the SI website. I bought the book a few years ago, when I first started to index, but I don’t think I’ve read it until now. It has proven to be an excellent resource, though. I am glad I had it handy.

The book, only 66 pages, is mostly based on a study that the authors conducted in 1997 with indexers, librarians, parents, publishers, and teachers. An additional two studies were conducted with students, ranging from what we would say in North America is elementary to high school. The book discusses both the findings of these studies—how indexes are actually commissioned and made and how children actually use the indexes—as well as how indexes should be made for children. It was quite interesting to see some of the discrepancies between what is done and what should be done, and examples of both poor and good indexing practices.

The core message is that indexes need to be easy to use. Arguably, this should be true for all indexes, including for adults, but especially for children, who may not understand how to use an index or who may be very slow in their use, being slow with spelling or alphabetization, for example. The child should be able to use the index without getting discouraged and giving up. 

One key recommendation is to use language that the children would use, which would often be simpler terms, as well as terms that may not be obvious for an adult. In a way, this is an impossible task, because how can you anticipate all of the possible search terms a user might think of? In one example given in the book, children were asked to suggest alternative keywords for the word “ice.” Terms the children suggested included water, cold, winter, icy, frost, hard, and ice cream. From an adult perspective, some of these are clearly not synonymous with ice, nor are they all good index terms as some are descriptive (terms are usually nouns), and it is unlikely there would be space in the index anyway for all these alternative terms. Still, it is a good reminder that children often approach keywords differently from adults. The indexer should consider using a variety of terms to anticipate the different ways that children might search. Multiple entry points are a must. It can also be helpful to include both general and specific terms. A reader might look under “dogs” to find information about golden retrievers, for example, and might give up if they can’t find relevant information, so double-posting is important.

Other recommendations I thought helpful included limiting the use of subheadings and cross-references (potentially confusing), as well as the use of long strings of locators (too discouraging). Passing mentions should be avoided as being discouraging and a waste of time (which is good practice anyway). Another recommendation I found really interesting was to include an introductory note explaining how to use the index. In a addition to the index as a finding aid, this turns the index into a teaching tool as well. The book also recommended a larger font size for ease of use, and had other suggestions for an inviting and readable layout. This makes the good point that an index is not simply a collection of words and numbers, or terms and locators, that direct people to information. Good design is also important for a successful index that people will want to use.

Beyond the recommendations for writing indexes and the discussions on how children actually use indexes, there were a few sections I found less useful. Parts of the book were clearly aimed at publishers, to encourage them to incorporate best practices into how they commission indexes. That is important, of course, though I am not the target audience for that. There was also a chapter discussing the National Curriculum in England and Wales, and how it relates to indexes. As someone from Canada, this was not relevant to me at all, and I wonder how up to date it is, as the book is almost twenty years old. Still, these are minor quibbles, and the book is an excellent, clearly written resource. I highly recommend it if you want to index for children. I think it’s insights definitely improved the index that I just wrote.

Article
October 28, 2018
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by Stephen

Freelance Anniversary Reflections

Photo by picjumbo.com from Pexels

This is my sixth anniversary as a freelance indexer! It was the end of October, 2012, that I left my job at Harbour Publishing and moved back to Vancouver with the intention to work for myself. That first year I received only a few projects, which I have to admit I used as an opportunity to travel. Since I have started, though, I have worked on (or will, once I finish what is currently on my desktop) 224 projects. Work certainly picked up, especially starting my third year. I don’t have an exact count of books indexed, but including books from when I worked in-house, I think I am somewhere in the range of 210-230 indexes written. Someday it would be really neat to be in a room with all of the books I have worked on. For the most part I work on the computer with digital files, so to see the actual physical product all around me would be amazing.  

I’ve been doing some reflection on my business. When I started, part of the motivation was to see if I could start a viable business. I think I can now say, with the support of all of the publishers, editors, and authors who have entrusted their books to me, that I have. I am thankful for the relationships that I have built with clients and colleagues. It is a great little community that I had no idea existed when I started. 

Recently, I’ve been asking myself, “What’s next?” I don’t see this as a negative question, and for the time being I plan to continue in this work. I think every business changes over time, either in response to the market or due to changes in the people working in the business. I know I have definitely changed in the last few years. Some of my reasons for freelancing have either been fulfilled or are no longer applicable, which I think is worth reflecting on. I have also been feeling like the pace I have been working at over the last few months is unsustainable. Being a one-person business, I am not doing myself, or my clients, a favour if I burn out. 

I have decided to take January and maybe February (I’ll see how I feel when I get there) off as a sabbatical. I am a bit nervous as I have never done this before. This is not intended to be a holiday, and for the most part I will stay in Edmonton. I am still working on the details, but I hope to use the time for a mixture of rest; reflection and strategizing for the next few years, both in business and in life (which are very much intertwined, especially as a freelancer); and to get caught up on some projects and tasks I’ve been neglecting. I hope to emerge with a renewed sense of purpose and a more sustainable approach to work and life. I see the sabbatical as an opportunity to grow.

I am sure that I will have more to write later on the sabbatical, as I continue to prepare and then once I’ve completed it. For now, I am looking forward to it. It does feel like the right time. When indexing, it is easy to get caught up in the small details of each project and to not see the big picture of my business and life. I look forward to taking a step back and getting a sense for what the next six years might look like.

Article
September 22, 2018
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by Stephen

Indexing Fiction: The Lord of the Rings

Happy Hobbit Day!

September 22 is apparently the shared birthday of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins. I wonder how old they would be.

Today is also a good excuse to examine the index for the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) trilogy. I was quite surprised to notice, a couple of years ago, that my omnibus edition has an index. Thanks to a comment from a colleague, I have learned that the box set also comes with an index, or at least some of the box sets do. 

To back up a moment, and briefly recap, last month I reviewed an online index for The Wheel of Time series. The indexing issues I raised for fiction included spoilers, the scope of the index, locators, and differentiation, for example if the reader has forgotten which is a person, place, or thing. I will not repeat my full discussion of these issues in this blog post, but I will be examining this index with those issues in mind. So, on to the LOTR’s index.

I am curious to know when this index was originally written. My omnibus edition is from 1995, though the copyright page states that the three volumes were first published together in 1968. Does the index extend that far back? I was able to find a copy of the index in a box set on Amazon, using their Look Inside feature. That version is from a mass market paperback edition from Del Ray, apparently from 1986. I do not know if that index is the one reproduced in other box sets as well. In any case, the two indexes are extremely similar. The box set edition appears to have been shortened, which I think makes it less comprehensive and useful, but otherwise I am willing to believe that it is simply a shortened version of the original. In this review, I will mostly be commenting on the longer version found in the omnibus edition.

The index itself is actually a set of four indexes. There is an index for songs and verses; persons, beasts, and monsters; places; and things. There is a fifth section in the box set, with the title of “Supplement: Persons, Places and Things appearing only in Songs and Poems,” only a page long. I am not sure why this fifth index is included, as it is very specific. What audience or need is it seeking to meet? Otherwise, I think splitting the index is a helpful decision on the part of the indexer. It directly addresses the issue of differentiation, and of informing readers what kind of entry they are looking at. Splitting the index also means that each section is not too long, which I think also makes the index easier to search. 

Splitting the index also speaks to the scope of the index, which is what does the index cover. Related to scope is also the use, or not, of subheadings, which also leads to the issue of spoilers. Can we get a sense of the story from the index entries? In this index, the focus of the index is on the tangible. As far as I can tell, there are no conceptual entries, nor do the entries give a sense of plot. There are a few subheadings, but they are mostly of alternative names or terms, such as “the Grey” or “Stormcrow” for Gandalf. I am glad that these alternative terms are included so that the reader can find all of the relevant entries (and I noticed that several of them were removed in the box set edition), but these don’t tell us much about the character, place, or thing. 

Also on scope—and an aspect of this index that I find frustrating—is that the index does not attempt to be comprehensive. The places index, in particular, has a headnote explaining that in most cases only the first mention is indexed, except for where the indexer thought there were other significant mentions. In the box set edition, the headnote actually admits, “This [index] is rather more arbitrary than the last.” The headnote for the persons, beasts, and monsters index simply tells us that “references are selective” (though this headnote is missing from the box set). Still, there are far more locators in the persons index than for places, giving me some confidence that I will at least find all of the major scenes or chapters for a character. I do not know why the same was not done for places. For the things index, there is no headnote, and relatively few locators. This is also the section that appears to have been shortened the most between the two editions. The songs and verses index is short, split between first lines and titles, and seems comprehensive. Overall, it seems like each section was given different treatment, without a lot of explanation to the reader as to why. This makes me doubt the usefulness and reliability of the index. Can I trust that I am being directed to all of the relevant entries? Part of the indexing process is determining what is relevant for the reader, especially if there is a space constraint, so I do not want to fault the indexer for making decisions that we all have to make. In the absence of more information, though, the discrepancies do seem arbitrary, which is not the impression that an index should give.

The locators are also worth commenting on. With no subheadings to indicate plot, there are long strings of undifferentiated locators. These are usually not ideal, but given that this index is trying to avoid spoilers and is only trying to direct readers to the relevant pages, I think the undifferentiated locators are understandable.

 One aspect I found interesting were the extremely long page ranges for main characters. Locators for Frodo, for example, included 21-145 passim, 148-86 passim, 190-209 passim. The term passim, not commonly used, is meant to indicate that the subject is discussed throughout the range, but not necessarily on every page or in a continuous discussion. I think the use here is unnecessary as the reader will probably figure that out from the ranges. Still, these ranges are an interesting solution for how to index main characters who are the focus of the book. The ranges allow those entries to be relatively short, compared to how much of the book the locators cover. 

The locators also, of course, have to be changed for the different editions. For the box set, the index seems to only appear in the third book, The Return of the King, and locators include the volume number, so readers know which book in the trilogy to refer back to. I see value in having the (mostly) same index across all editions, so readers will find the same kinds of information regardless of the edition they are using. It must be a tedious task, though, for whoever given the job of adjusting the locators for each new edition. 

All in all, I think that the LOTR index is decent. Its best feature is having separate indexes for the different types of content. The part of me that likes to be organized and thorough wishes that the index was more comprehensive, in both entries and number of references picked up. At the very least, a longer headnote would be helpful to explain the differences between the sections and what we can expect to find. I also wonder how this index would be different if the plot was at least hinted at, but I respect the decision to not include spoilers. For the reader, I think this index is certainly a vast improvement over having no index, and I am grateful for whoever had the foresight to create it and to keep it in publication.

 My apologies for irregular blogging over the last couple of months. I have had a lot of work this summer, which is continuing into the fall. More to the point, I’ve been away for about a week for each of the last two months, and I have another trip planned starting next week. I don’t usually stagger my holidays like this, and while I have enjoyed the people and places my wife and I have visited, I have also found it difficult to maintain routines in this pattern of intense periods of work interspersed by travel. I look forward to returning to a more settled schedule, including more blogging, when I return in October. 

Article
August 26, 2018
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by Stephen

Indexing Institutional Histories: A Case Study

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 I am still interested in exploring what made this project unique while it is fresh in my mind. You see, while the institution described is currently a single entity, the book actually discussed three institutions. Let’s call them the museum, the archives, and the library.

The first set of intertwined institutions are the museum and archives. About fifteen years ago they were formally amalgamated, and so they are, now, a single entity while retaining their distinctive spheres. For most of their history, though, going back 100+ years, they were separate institutions, yet often shared the same building. So in a sense this book is really a story of parallel, yet conjoined, histories. Part of my job, as the indexer, was to reflect both histories in the index, and to make it clear when each was being discussed.

The second set of intertwined institutions are the library and the archives. The library was actually established first, before the archives, and part of its mandate was to collect archival records. A few years later the archives were created as a separate entity, and yet for decades not only did the two share a building (with the museum), but they also shared a single administration. The head archivist was concurrently the head librarian. This mixing of roles continued until separate administrators were finally appointed, and until the archives moved out, with the museum, into a new building. At that point the library drops out of this particular story. Yet the library still needed to be addressed in the index. Its presence added yet another level of complexity, made even more so as it was often not clearly differentiated from the archives. The text usually treated both as a single entity, with a focus on archival work, probably because the same staff were involved in both. Because of that, while I had separate main entries for each, for when the difference was clear, I also tended to assume, when the difference was not clear, that the archival side was being discussed.

A temptation for this kind of book is to essentially write two, possibly three, separate indexes, one for each institution. In practice, because separate indexes are not very practical, this would probably look like massive entries for each within a single index, in which the whole history of each institution is clearly delineated. I don’t think that this approach works either. Overly large entries, with long lists of subheadings, or even multiple levels of subheadings, are often difficult to read. This also relates to the concept of the metatopic—the overarching topic of the book to which everything in the book relates. While I take the view that the metatopic should be present in the index as a starting point for the reader—in this case, the metatopics would be the museum and archives—I also agree that the information which form the metatopic should be broken down into their different components and scattered throughout the index to give the reader smaller chunks of information to digest. 

That still leaves the question, though, of how to differentiate between information that is related to the museum and information that is related to the archives and library. Ideally, if the reader is only interested in one institution or the other, the reader should know which they are getting. My overall strategy was to be clear in the language I used. I also dealt with this on a case-by-case basis, as I was afraid that if I was too rigid following a particular strategy or formula, I would end up with too much repetition between the entries, and an index that was longer than necessary. To give a few examples…

There were a number of areas in which both the museum and the archives had similar programs or issues. Both, for example, published books, reports, and magazines or journals. In order to differentiate, I decided to have parallel entries of,

publishing program, archives 

publishing program, museum

Other topics, I felt, did not make sense to differentiate, either because the same issues applied to both, or because it was primarily only one institution that dealt with that issue. An example would be the buildings these institutions occupied, which in most instances were shared. Another instance was finances, a lot of which were about government budget cuts which affected both equally. I thought that I would have a lot of duplication if I had separate entries, which seemed to me to add limited value. 

In these cases, I also sometimes use subheadings to highlight one or both institutions where it made sense to do so. This would usually be a situation in which the entry was primarily about one institution, but for which there were a couple of locators for the other as well. For example, exhibitions and displays was almost entirely about the museum, as I think most people would expect. Yet the archives had a small gallery that was also referenced a couple of times, so “in archives” became a subheading. For the entry for collections, which was about collections in general with numerous cross-references to specific collections, most of the subheadings were applicable to both institutions, but I also had the following two subheadings for the one instance I thought differentiation made sense:

collection policy for archives

collection policy for museum

Another issue was how to differentiate the staff, particularly the administrators who tended to have the most lengthy entries. I decided that I would not try to differentiate staff who did not have enough entries to merit subheadings, but for staff with subheadings, I tried to insert the term museum or archives somewhere near the top of the entry. This usually meant a subheading along the lines of,

appointment and departure from archives and library

This usually sorted to be the first or second subheading in the entry, which I hope will help orient readers to where this person worked, and what kind of information they can expect from this entry. I think this is preferable to giving no clue, and leaving the reader to possibly waste time on the wrong person.

All told, this was quite a dense text, though well-written. I did find the book interesting, especially as I have done some research myself at this particular archive. Now that I understand its history and collection better, I kind of want to return, though I don’t know what I would research. The index was also quite the challenge. I hope that the decisions I made make sense, especially to the readers who will be using it.

Article
August 13, 2018
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by Stephen

Indexing Fiction: The Wheel of Time 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 happened that shortly before that exchange, I found an online index for the fourteen-volume fantasy series by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, The Wheel of Time, which is one of my favourite fantasy series.

So, here are some thoughts to join the conversation, first on indexing fiction, in general, and then on The Wheel of Time index specifically.

Issues in Indexing Fiction

One of the biggest concerns in indexing fiction is spoilers. How much of the plot should be revealed? Should the ending be included, even if buried in a subheading? Or should nothing about the plot be revealed, with the index consisting of  undifferentiated locators (no subheadings) for people, places, and things?

To help discern an answer, we should consider who is most likely to use the index. Is it a new reader or is it a repeat reader? Repeat readers may actually want spoilers, because they already know what happens anyway, and they may be searching the index for specific information or scenes that they recall, which would require a fairly detailed index. 

I think it is also helpful to consider other supplementary material that can accompany fiction, like wikis and companion books. For The Wheel of Time, the “A Wheel of Time Wiki” has on its home page the following statement: “This wiki contains spoilers for all books in the series! Read articles at your own risk.” The Wheel of Time Companion: The People, Places, and History of the Bestselling Series, also states in its introduction that the book contains spoilers. It seems reasonable to say that spoilers are inevitable, and often expected, in supplementary material, including, I would say, indexes. A certain amount of information needs to be included in order for that resource to serve its purpose. Perhaps spoilers are not as big an issue as we may think, though again, this circles back to the purpose of the index and its audience.

A related issue, focusing on the index content, is the scope of the index. Should the focus be solely on people, places, and things? What about the culture, technology, or social issues described in the book? Should major themes be picked up? Should the index attempt to break down the plot, or follow character arcs? Should subheadings be used, which can facilitate breaking down the story, or should locators be undifferentiated, which could lead to long strings of page numbers but at least the plot is safely hidden. In writing the index, of course, the book should not be rewritten, but I think that there are still degrees of complexity and scope that can be considered. A good novel should be multifaceted and immersive. Should the index be similar?

The last main issue that comes to mind is that of locators. Fiction, especially popular fiction, can often be reprinted in multiple editions over time. Which edition should the index be keyed to, or will the index have to be adjusted for each edition? If the index is for a series, like The Wheel of Time, for which I think an index would be most useful, there is the added question of how will the index be published? Will it be a standalone volume? Published online? This logistical issue is not insurmountable, but it should be considered from the outset.

The Wheel of Time Index

I have actually thought about an index for The Wheel of Time for many years, though partly for the issues outlined above and partly for lack of time and pay I have not followed through on the idea. So I am really excited to find this online index, which you can view here. It is part of the larger website Encyclopedia WoT, which is one of several fan-created The Wheel of Time websites. 

As you can see when you browse the main page, the main headings focus on people, places, and things. There are a few concepts, such as agelessness and channelling, which are specific to the world, but otherwise conceptual entries are not included. Still, given the parameters I am impressed by how thorough the term selection is. Even characters and places with very minor references are included. 

Interestingly, names are not inverted and are alphabetically sorted by first name. Perhaps readers are more familiar with first names than last? A more serious issue, I think, is that terms are not differentiated or explained. There are a few instances of two minor characters having the same name but no indication of which entry is for which. There are also a lot of terms which I simply do not recognize, probably because it has been a few years since I have read most of the books, and probably because some of these references are quite minor. I think simple glosses would be helpful. For example:

hedgehog (ter’angreal)

Mehar (Saldaean town)

Sarand (Andoran noble house)

Glosses like these would make the index much easier to browse. In its current state, the index requires the user to recognize all of the terms and to already know what they want to find, while glosses would make searching easier for the casual browser. 

My last critique about the main headings is the lack of cross-references. This lack is particularly noticeable as some of the entries do not have their own page. For example, the entry for Mondel Gate automatically redirects to the page for the city of Caemlyn, within which are references to Mondel Gate, but the user has to search for those references. It is not obvious why I was sent to a different page than expected, or where the relevant information is. Some sort of cross-reference could explain where the information actually is or why I am being redirected, and give direction for how to use the index.

The individual entries are also quite interesting, and show how much more information can be included in an online index compared to a back-of-the-book index. The entries definitely contain spoilers, as they contain extensive information about what the reader can find. For example, the following subheadings, we will call them, appear in the entry for Basel Gill:

Gill is very upset that Maighdin has disappeared.

Gill and his companions reach the Jehannah Road. Travelers report that the way north is impassable so they head east.

Rand tries to remember what Gill told him about Galad.

Elyas scouts the Whitecloak camp and recognizes Gill. Perrin begins planning how to free them.

The information provided is split into a number of different sections. The first is a brief explanation of the entry, such as this one for Basel Gill: “The innkeeper of The Queen’s Blessing in Caemlyn”. If the entry is a person, there is usually then a physical description, including locators for where the person is described. Next is a list of actions and events the character appears in, in chronological order, followed by other mentions. 

Entries for places, things, and groups follow a similar structure, and may also include a list of related entries (a form of cross-reference), such as everyone mentioned from a particular village.

As mentioned, a lot of information, in sentence format, is given in the description for each locator. The entries also appear to be in chronological order, so similar entries are not grouped together. While this means that readers have to search to find the specific information they want, the entry does provide a comprehensive overview. 

I find the locators to be one of the most interesting aspects of this index. The locators bypass the issue of which edition of the series to use by linking to chapter summaries instead of page numbers. This provides context for the entries, but if the reader still wants to find the specific mention, they will have to reread the chapter. Perhaps this is why so much description is given within each entry, as the chapter summaries are fairly brief. This makes the entries, in a way, more important than the locators. Still, I think this is quite an ingenious solution.

In addition to the index, at the top of each page there are a number of links to pages on each of the books, history, geography, characters, items, etc… Some of the information listed in these pages overlaps with the index, while others, such as history and geography, in a way serve as conceptual entries, gathering together relevant subheadings. The index is integrated into the larger website, blurring the lines between the website as a whole and the page that is formally labeled “Index.”

All in all, I am very impressed by this index for The Wheel of Time. I cannot imagine how much work must have gone into its creation. I think there are some ways to make the index easier to search and use, and more could be done to expand into more conceptual entries, but these are fairly minor quibbles compared to what this index actually does achieve. This is a fantastic resource for fans. I wish that similar indexes were available for other series as well.

Article
July 10, 2018
1 comment
by Stephen

Indexing Basics, Reflections on

Photo by Daniel Cheung on Unsplash

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 presenting and about indexing, as I reflected on my practice. Whoever said that teaching is the best way to learn was right.

As I thought about how to present indexing in under an hour, with time for introductions and questions, two themes kept reappearing.

The first is that indexing is about analysis. What is the text about? You cannot write a good index without understanding the text.

The second is audience. Who is the index for? How will they be using the index? How familiar are they with the subject? Do they typically use indexes? If the index is not written with the audience in mind, the index will also probably be poor.

These two themes are closely linked. I think that indexing can be described as analysis on behalf of the reader. In a way, both the text and the audience needs to be analyzed. As the indexer, we need to do some of the heavy lifting for the reader, so that using the index is a pleasant and easy experience. The index should also help guide the reader to what the text is about.

Ultimately, if the participants in both presentations took nothing else away, I hope they remember analysis and audience. If both are front of mind when indexing, I think the index has a decent chance of succeeding. Everything else is just detail and polish.

To close, I will leave you with my new favourite quote on indexing, from a recent issue of The Indexer (vol. 36 no. 1, March 2018). It is by Mary Coe, an indexer from Australia. I think she really nails what we attempt to do as indexers, bringing together both analysis and the reader, and the risk that we might get it all wrong. This is also what helps to make indexing so satisfying. Mary writes:

“As indexers, we have the very difficult task of putting ourselves in other people’s shoes (or heads). Sometimes we get it right and sometimes we don’t; however, I think it is inherently our job to try.”

Article
July 2, 2018
1 comment
by Stephen

Three Indexing Mind Hacks

Photo by Patrick Perkins on Unsplash

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 there is a way to simplify or expedite part of the process, it does make a difference on overall indexing time and cognitive load.

Learning how to effectively use indexing software is one approach that is commonly advocated for becoming more efficient. I agree, and I think there is more that I can learn with the software I use, Cindex. 

As I have written about earlier, practice is essential for becoming a more efficient indexer. I find so much about indexing is understanding the different ways a book can be structured, understanding the different ways an index can be structured and written, and understanding when to go with one approach versus another. For me, at least, the only way I can learn this is by doing, over and over again, and being mindful of what I am doing so that I can learn with each index. I think that I am more efficient now than I was even just a year ago. I hope to continue to improve. 

Recently, though, I have been thinking about three techniques I use. These are all ways to externalize and capture my thoughts so I do not have to keep everything in my mind all at once. 

Mind Mapping

Mind mapping is a way to quickly diagram relationships. I find this exercise most helpful for understanding difficult books. There is something about writing down the different components of an argument, and physically drawing lines between them, that boosts clarity. It can also be a way to see if I have captured the full scope of the book in the index, as I compare the mind map, based on the book, to the index. I have been finding it so helpful that I am starting to do a quick mind map for all indexes I write, usually before I start the final edit. It only takes about ten minutes, and it gives me an opportunity to reflect.

There is a website on mind mapping, if you want to learn more. Software is available, both free and for a price. I occasional use Scapple, but honestly, I usually just use a pen and a scrap piece of paper. 

Notes

Another technique I have used for years is keeping notes. I use Notes, a program on my MacBook. I have one note per project, and I simply keep a running list of whatever I want to remember for later. These are often notes about terminology, if I am trying to decide between two or three options. Or these can be questions for the author, or errors that I am finding which I want to share with the client. Sometimes I just free write, in order to understand a concept or a relationship. For some books, I will just have a couple of notes, while for others I’ll end up with a page or two. 

By making a note, I am removing the thought or question from my mind, and I am giving myself permission to move on, knowing that I will be able to come back later and resolve the issue. There is too much thinking going on while indexing to remember every last error I found and question I have, so writing the note down frees up a lot of cognitive space. This is also a recognition that for a lot of issues, I will not know the answer until I have read further in the book and seen how the issue is addressed elsewhere, or perhaps I do need to ask the author. In the meantime, I have to keep working, and making notes that I can refer to later allows me to do that.

Labels and Highlights

Coming back to indexing software, there is a feature in Cindex, the software I use, that I am appreciating more and more as a form of note-taking. This is the ability to label, or highlight, entries. I assume the same can be done in other programs, like Macrex and Sky. 

When I label entries, I am flagging the entry with a colour to remind myself to take action at a later date. I will often use two or three different colours to remind myself of different things. The most common is for an entry I might want to cut. Especially if space is tight for the index, it saves a lot of time at the end to be able to search for the labeled entries and hit delete for all of them. I use a different colour if I think I might want to remove subheadings. Another common reason is for entries I want to revisit, but I am afraid I will forget if it is not labeled. 

As with notes, using labels is about externalizing my thoughts so that I can put that thought away for later.

Working full time as an indexer is often about finding ways to be efficient, so we can maintain a full schedule without burning out. These are three mind hacks that I use to process my thoughts more efficiently, and to focus better without being distracted by a host of other thoughts. If you are an indexer, what techniques do you use? I am curious.

Article
June 25, 2018
1 comment
by Stephen

Standing Up to Imposter Syndrome

Photo by James Pond on Unsplash

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 know what I am doing. Sooner or later a client or a colleague will call me out on the terrible quality of my work. 

This can often flare up with a more difficult project. Perhaps the index is for a subject I am less familiar with. Or maybe I am in a dry spell for work, and I am wondering, will anyone ever send me work again? Or maybe I am just tired, which causes the project I am working on to seem more daunting than it actually is. Whatever the case, I start to doubt myself. I second guess decisions. I get anxious when faced with a difficult section in the index and I have to step away for a moment to refocus. 

Do you ever feel this way? I suspect it is fairly common. The Writing Excuses podcast has an excellent episode on imposter syndrome from a couple of years ago. 

I do not know if imposter syndrome will ever fully go away. I seem to be in its grips less often now, though I can see a couple of upcoming projects that are a little outside my comfort zone. I wonder if it is most common in that career stage shortly after being a rookie, in that time when you are coming to grips with newfound success, and are trying to turn that newfound success and experience into confidence. 

Occasionally clients will send me a handwritten note of appreciation. I have three of them pinned to my bulletin board, to remind me that at least three people like my work. I also have a handful of testimonials that I can refer to, sent via email. These are all confidence boosters, and very much appreciated. If you are someone who hires indexers, and you genuinely like the work, take a moment to say so. Your comment will make a difference. 

If you are someone who experiences imposter syndrome, know that you are not alone. It can happen to all of us. At best, use it as a tool to deepen your craft and improve. Otherwise, know that what it is telling you is false. Try to find ways to remind yourself of that fact. You are a professional, and you do have what it takes to do your job. 

My apologies for not blogging last week. I was sick two weeks ago, which made last week extremely busy, catching up on work. I did draft this post, but did not get as far as revising and posting it. I hope to get back on track going forward.

Article
June 11, 2018
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by Stephen

Defining Experience, One Index (and One Tree) at a Time

Photo by Jesse Orrico on Unsplash

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 external standards by which we can gauge ourselves. Is it a matter of, “I know it when I see it”?

I returned home a couple of days ago from the Indexing Society of Canada’s annual conference, held this year in Winnipeg. It was the fifth indexing conference I have attended. Unexpectedly, I came away feeling like I was truly an experienced indexer. I do not say this to brag or to say that I have finally arrived, whatever that means. There has been a shift, though—a subtle, unlooked for, shift, perhaps—in how I view myself, and perhaps in how I perceive how my colleagues view me. 

I have been trying to think about what happened at the conference that might have contributed to this shift. I did announce our new mentorship program, which I helped to write the proposal for and for which I am now one of the two coordinators tasked with turning the proposal into a functioning program. I know that indexing experience is not strictly necessary to put together a mentorship program, but I am still feeling the weight of this responsibility. I did feel like I recognized more colleagues than I have in the past, and in turn was recognized by them. I have been around long enough that colleagues are starting to turn into friends. I did talk to a number of newer indexers, compared to whom I am, I realize, more experienced, while there are others who have been indexing far longer. I suppose you could say that in my sixth year as a freelancer I am somewhere in the middle of my career. The beginning is now past.

I often think about the two seasons I planted trees in northern British Columbia, when I think about the acquisition and progression of experience. I turned nineteen and twenty those two summers. Tree planting is seasonal work in Canada, to replace the trees cut down by logging. First year planters are called rookies, and you remain a rookie until the last day of the season. If you come back for a second year, you are a vet. The demarcation is clear.

Experience is what differentiates rookies from vets. The first season is dedicated to learning proper technique, how to read the ground, and how to add speed, once technique is ingrained. I only hit the two thousand tree mark three, maybe four days that first summer. For me, much of that first season was also the mental struggle to stay engaged in a repetitious, physically demanding task and environment. Especially in the third month, I am pretty sure I was burning out. One afternoon I literally threw my shovel away and cried, alone in the middle of the clearcut. I felt numb and exhausted. All I wanted to do was to sit and be somewhere else. But, I was in the middle of the wilderness with a bag of seedlings strapped to my waist. At the very least I needed to walk back to the truck, which I think was at least a ten minute walk. So after sitting for a bit I found my shovel and dragged myself back to work.

In contrast, my second season got off to a flying start. I hit two thousand trees within the first few days and maintained that pace for the rest of the summer. I would often plant upwards to 2,200 trees a day, occasionally more, with my personal best being about 2,650, on trenched ground, with a sore knee. I was refreshed from nine months away, and all of that experience from my first year—all that I was trying to achieve my first year—suddenly became possible. I was clearly no longer a rookie. That said, there were a few vets on our crew who had been planting for five or more years. They would routinely plant three thousand trees a day, sometimes going up to four or five thousand if the ground was creamy. Experience exists on a continuum. 

Bringing this back to indexing, I think there are a few markers for experience. One is simply putting in the work, measured both in time and in indexes completed. Indexing, like tree planting, is inherently hands-on. While knowledge about technique can inform practice, that knowledge will never replace practice. The best way to gain experience is to just do the work. 

A second aspect is self-reflection. I think it is possible for someone to index poorly for a long time, because they have never thought about how they index or how they can improve. I think when someone is described as an experienced indexer, quality is often implied, which requires attention to craft. The other side of this is that even experienced indexers can get better. There is always room to learn. 

I think that mindset is a third aspect. I see this in myself, in that somewhere along the way I have come to recognize that I have completed a significant body of work, that my work processes and skills have changed over time (hopefully for the better), and that I am better able to deal with challenges as they arise. I also have a changing sense of myself in relation to my colleagues, whether those are colleagues ahead of me, with me, or behind me on this continuum of experience. I am coming to see that I am experienced, while also seeing that there is still more that I can learn. 

Maybe I am premature to consider myself experienced. Maybe I will look back on this post ten years from now and think, “What is that idiot talking about?” And maybe I will think the same again twenty years from now. I don’t know. Either way, the work continues. I trust that you and I, if we keep chipping away at our craft, will find experience, one way or another. And there is always another indexing conference next year to look forward to.

I wasn’t able to find a stock photo of tree planting, but check this article out on Vice for some stunning photos. There is nothing quite like pounding trees. It is as much a lifestyle as it is a job.