With our income as indexers often proportional to the amount of work we can complete, efficiency is key. I want to consider today a practice that I know some indexers use, which is editing as the index entries are created. In theory—and I have heard some indexers say they manage this in practice—by the time you reach the end of the book, very little editing remains to be done. 

I have to admit that while I try to do this, I still tend to split indexing into two distinct phases. There are aspects of the editing-in-the-go approach that I struggle with. So this is more of a self-reflection than a how-to. Maybe you will get some ideas for what works for you. 

There are definitely a couple of advantages to editing as you go, which I try to keep in mind as encouragement. The main one for me is that the content is dealt with while it remains fresh in my mind, which means less going back and double-checking later in the indexing process. This should save time during the final edit, as most of the issues in the index will have already been dealt with. 

Still, I find there can be some barriers to putting this approach into practice. I often find that creating the entries and editing the index requires me to think in different ways, and it can be hard to switch back and forth between entry mode and editing mode. After several hours of entering entries, having to go back and edit can also seem too taxing for my tired mind. And sometimes, especially for more complicated texts, I find I don’t really understand the text until I’ve had a second look at a later date. In this instance, editing is very much part of my process for understanding the text. I also suspect that editing on the go requires a clear sense of what the final index should look like and what constitutes a good final draft.

When I find editing-as-you-go most helpful is for books that are organized into discrete chapters or sections. If I know that armadillos are primarily discussed on pages 34-63, then a quick edit of that one entry, before moving on to the next section, does save time later on. Unfortunately, not all books are this well organized, and a quick edit is still needed at the end to make sure the entry still holds together. Also, something I should do more of, and to avoid the excuse of tiredness, is to do a quick edit after every chapter, to clean up any obvious errors or redundancies. 

Another form of editing which can be done early in the indexing process is to establish consistent wording, particularly for elements like glosses. I may not always know what I want to use right away, but once I do, it can be worth taking a moment to go back and fix, and then be consistent going forward. This can also be done to consolidate subheadings, if I decide partway through to change the wording or how I am gathering locators.  

Otherwise, I have to admit that if I am not certain about a particular entry, I tend to just keep going. I will put in my best guess or use some sort of placeholder wording, and I may write a separate note for myself about the issue, and then I will come back later during the editing phase. There are elements of indexing on the go that I use and can better incorporate, but I do like the editing phase. I find that I view the index differently while editing, which is valuable in its own right. 

How do you index? Do you edit as you create the index entries? Why do you do it, and what works best? Let me know, if you have a moment. I am curious to know what works for you.