I want to shift focus this week to a thought experiment. Fiction is rarely indexed—I have never been asked so far. Yet as an avid reader of fiction, I have often thought about the potential advantages and what the challenges might be. I have blogged before about indexes for fictional works which I have come across (here, for The Lord of the Rings, and here, for an online index for The Wheel of Time series), and I want to expand those thoughts on reasons to index fiction and what good practices could look like.

Indexing fiction is not a few concept, thankfully. In a 2007 article in The Indexer, Hazel Bell profiles 73 works of fiction with indexes, dating back to the 1800s. Clearly not a booming field, though there is precedent. If you search through the back issues of The Indexer, you will find a few other articles as well. 

So Why Fiction?

The first question, of course, is why bother? Are readers really so keen to revisit a book through an index? Won’t the plot be given away? How does one index a theme, or should the index only focus on identifiable people, places, and objects?

One option I have seen and heard of, which to me is the least compelling option, is to write a joke index for a humorous book. Rather than serving as a useful guide, the index is intended as an extension of the text, and is supposed to generate chuckles. I sort of see the point of these, though given the purpose of an index and the labour needed to write them, I like to think that the end result can both be useful and funny. 

What I find far more interesting are indexes for classic novels, which appear to be aimed at scholars. An example is Clarissa, by Samuel Richardson, which The Indexer reviewed (starting on page 213). What I find so appealing about these indexes is that they recognize that these books can contain so much more than just their literary value. I have read about one example (I wish I can remember the title and author), written in the realist tradition, which historians were using to learn about that time period. And so the indexes produced focused on customs, beliefs, objects, and other historical details that were not readily available elsewhere. Non-fiction for scholarship already relies so heavily on indexes, so why not fiction as well? 

The last reason I will mention for indexing fiction, which is where I am most interested, is to make long series accessible. In science fiction and fantasy, there is The Expanse series by James S.A. Corey, for example, or the multiple series being written by Brandon Sanderson. Mystery and historical fiction have their own long series, such as the Horatio Hornblower novels. My argument here is that in such long series, it can be difficult to remember in which books characters appear, and in which books certain events happen. The level of world building is often so rich as well that indexes could be written about these fictional cultures and geographies. In a way, I see the online fan-created wikis as an index substitute, as these wikis provide a way to learn more about the different characters and places, including where they appear in the books. I just think that an index would be more precise and publishable.

Challenges and Considerations

Indexing fiction does present some challenges, of course. 

The first is how much to reveal about the plot and the character arcs. This could range from no revelations, from using no subheadings (the Lord of the Rings approach), to including subheadings that are coy about what ultimately happens, to outright spilling the details. I think the deciding factor would be the purpose and audience for the index, though I would argue for including subheadings in some capacity. Long strings of locators are simply not that helpful for readers. I also think the case could be made that most people will either be using the indexes for research or after they have already read the book. Either way, spoilers will probably be acceptable. 

Another challenge, especially for contemporary fiction, is to know what edition to tie the index to. Unless the index used paragraph numbers, which could apply across all editions, the index will use page numbers for locators, which can vary across editions depending on layout. A related challenge, for series, is how to publish the index. For a fourteen book series, for example, the index could be large enough to publish as a standalone book, which may be the best option, though it would mean another resource to buy in addition to the series. I think the hardcore fans would still go for it, though. If fans are willing to build a wiki, they will probably be willing to buy an index and other supplementary material. 

Another consideration is to write multiple indexes. For example, there could be separate indexes for people, places, culture, important objects, songs, and whatever else seems necessary. This is not often done for nonfiction book, but I think the value for fiction is that it helps to narrow the search. I think that users of fiction indexes will most likely have a specific search in mind, and so whether they are researchers or fans, having dedicated indexes for different categories could assist the search process. 

What do you think should be in a fiction index? Would you use them if they were available? What kinds of books would you wan them for? Feel free to send me a note. I am curious to know if I am the only one to think about these things.