If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you are probably aware that indexing can get pretty technical. Details matter. Creativity works best when interwoven with the rules and conventions that make an index tick. All that to say, today’s reflection is going to get geeky. East Asian Names… Read More »East Asian Names, Deep Dive
What can main headings be composed of? Main headings, which kick off an entry or array, usually describe a single person or thing. It could be a name, or a government agency, or a physical object, or a concept. It is concrete and identifiable. Which is what we want in… Read More »Index Profile: Tracing Complicated Relationships in Main Headings, in The Other Great Game
I think every indexer will, at some point, experience a baptism by fire from updating a previously written index. It is tedious. It is time-consuming. It is mental gymnastics trying to get into the mind of the original indexer and trying to figure out what has changed. My first freelance… Read More »Updating an Index: Worth It or Not Worth It?
In her book Ten Characteristics of Quality Indexes, Margie Towery recommends taking a nap as a way to boost concentration and attention. Other suggestions include going for a walk, meditation, or yoga. As she puts it, “the trick is to be aware of when your productivity is suffering and then… Read More »Cross-Training for Freelancers
Happy National Indexing Day! This is a celebration started in the UK by the Society of Indexers and is starting to spread around the world. From across the pond in Canada, I thought I would join in the fun too. The question I get the most from non-indexers is, how… Read More »Five Steps to Writing an Excellent Index
Taking a sabbatical has been one of the best decisions I have made for my business. I am already thinking about doing it again next year. For those of you who don’t know, I recently took nearly six weeks off work, from mid-January to the end of February. I did… Read More »What I Accomplished During My Sabbatical
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… Read More »Indexing as Deep Work
Happy New Year! I hope your holiday festivities were heart-warming and restorative. My wife and I started ours with our car dying the night before we planned to hit the road, though the holidays did get better from there and we are thankful for a few days with family. I… Read More »Making Friends with My Calendar
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
“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