Hello,

Welcome back to the third edition of the monthly Q&A, on the last Tuesday of every month day I catch up. My apologies. This was on my to-do list for yesterday, along with a whole lot of other things, and I clearly did not get through everything on my to-do list.

Today’s question comes from Kimberly:

Great question, Kimberly, and thank you for asking. I appreciate that you are thinking ahead and anticipating that subheadings may be needed. Adding subheadings early can certainly be more efficient, while that information is fresh in your mind, than waiting until later. But is it more efficient to add subheadings to all headings? I’m not convinced about all.

If you look at most indexes, most arrays lack subheadings. The need for subheadings varies from book to book, but generally speaking, while all arrays should be relevant for the reader and point towards substantive information, only a few arrays are discussed extensively enough, or can be readily divided into subcategories, to warrant subheadings. So spending time creating subheadings for all headings runs the risk of creating a lot of subheadings which will later need to be deleted. Both writing and deleting subheadings takes time (though you are right that deleting can be easy).

A better approach is to try to anticipate which arrays will need subheadings and which will not. This way you can still be proactive about creating subheadings where needed while avoiding unnecessary ones.

Here are two ideas for how to determine whether subheadings are needed:

• Before beginning, get a sense for what the book is about. Maybe scan the table of contents, read the introduction, flip through a few chapters to see how the book is written. What is the book about? What are the main arguments, themes, or topics? For example, books are often organized so that each chapter has its own topic, which will likely need subheadings. Are there types of entries that may require subheadings? In a corporate history, for example, key leaders will probably receive a lot of mentions, enough to need subheadings. In a work of literary criticism, certain key authors and books will probably also need subheadings. Try jotting down a list of likely key topics. When indexing, be on the lookout for them and add those subheadings.
• Run a quick keyword search when you first encounter a name or topic. If you only get three hits, then no subheadings. If you get more than six or ten hits, or whatever your threshold for adding subheadings is, then yes, subheadings are probably necessary. Running quick searches does take a moment, but still quicker than adding and deleting.

If you do realize, partway through, that an array should have subheadings after all, don’t panic. Begin adding subheadings from the point you make that decision. If a few previous locators are still fresh in your memory, go ahead and backtrack to add those subheadings in too. Otherwise, it’s okay to fill in a few missing subheadings at the end, while editing the index. I find that adding two, four, or even six subheadings doesn’t actually take that much time. While it is good to be proactive, missing a few or changing your mind later isn’t that big a deal either.

Another consideration is that I don’t always know what the subheading should be until I’ve read the whole book and better understand the discussion. So while creating a subheading from the start is a good idea, it is not always feasible. If you find yourself struggling to phrase the subheading or identify what the discussion is about, it’s okay, and may even be faster, to move on and come back to it later.

Anticipating whether or not subheadings are needed is not an exact science. I still sometimes realize that a discussion is smaller or larger than I thought. But if I can correctly anticipate whether subheadings are needed for most arrays, adding or deleting a few subheadings is still quicker than adding or deleting for all arrays.

The rough draft is not supposed to be perfect. Yes, trying to get entries right from the start can pay off later with less editing, and I think that maintaining a sense of momentum is also important. I don’t know what is in the book until I finish reading it, and I can’t finalize the index until I know what is in the book, and so while I want to put down my best attempt on the page while drafting, I also want to keep moving until I have a full draft and can assess what I have done. Subheadings are part of this process. Have some strategies to do your best while drafting, while also knowing that it will not be perfect and that it is okay to circle back and revise as needed.

Happy indexing!

Stephen