Hello,

I’m excited to do a bit of deconstruction today and look at the building blocks that form an index. But first, I want to welcome new subscribers and give you an update on this newsletter.

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Welcome!

I’ve noticed several new subscribers over the last month. Welcome and thanks for joining!

I write about creating excellent indexes for books, along with being a freelance indexer within the publishing industry. If this interests you too, then you are in the right place and I’m glad to have you.

If this isn’t what you thought you were subscribing to, or if you are no longer interested, the unsubscribe link is at the bottom. No hard feelings. I occasionally unsubscribe from newsletters too.

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Indexing Matters Update

With the new year, I’ve also been putting some thought into what I want to do with this newsletter. Last year, my goal was to write every second Tuesday, which I did fairly well until December.

I still want to write this year, and have been thinking about how to make it a little easier for myself and how to keep the content fresh and engaging.

Instead of writing every two weeks, I’m going to try writing on the first and third Tuesday of every month. I’m hoping this schedule will be more predictable and easier for me to plan around. For the four months which contain five Tuesdays—April, July, September, and December—I’ll try to add some sort of bonus reflection or update.

I’m also going to try writing posts as mini-series, each following a different theme. This way, I can write about a larger topic more comprehensively. I’m also hoping this will make it easier for me to plan ahead.

To kick off this new format, I’m going to go back to the basics and consider the basic elements of an index: entries and arrays, main headings and subheadings, locators, cross-references, formatting, and sorting. This will set the groundwork for deeper dives later on.

You may be thinking, “Stephen, didn’t you address all of these topics in your book?”

And the answer is, yes, I have written about these topics before. But I think it is worth covering them again. I hope to find new angles from which to discuss, and not everyone has read my book.

If you have an idea for a mini-series, a topic that can be broken down across 6-8 reflections, please let me know. I am always open to ideas. And please let me know what you think of this new format.

Now, finally, to entries and arrays, the building blocks of an index. Thanks for sticking with me this far.
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Building Blocks

An index is a document that is scanned to find information. It usually spans several pages. But if you had to break an index down into its smallest part, what would that be?

An index is not like most books or documents in that it does not contain a narrative. It cannot be reduced to plot points or the components of an argument. An index doesn’t even contain proper sentences. Instead, an index is a compilation of references. Broken down, the smallest unit within an index is an entry.

An entry has two components. Basically, “what this thing is + where to find it.” Using indexing terminology, this is “main heading + locator.” Or, to add another level of specificity, “main heading + subheading + locator.” From the entry, the reader can identify what they are looking at and where to find it in the text. For example,

The second building block is an array. I like to think of an array as containing everything that an index—and by extension the book or document—has to say about a particular subject. If you want to learn about Foxconn, you search for the Foxconn array. Want to learn about semiconductors, you search for the semiconductors array.

If there is only one mention, then a single entry can serve as a single array. But more often, there are multiple discusses throughout the book, which lead to the creation of multiple entries. Combined together, the entries create an array.

Why are entries and arrays so important? No one writes an index composed of a single entry.

But every index begins with an entry, and as the index is written, the entries and arrays accumulate. It is through knitting the entries and arrays together than an index emerges.

Step one to writing an index is to write clear, concise, and specific entries, so that “what this thing is” is clear to the reader. Step two is to combine entries into arrays which are clearly organized and easy to scan. Step three is to sort and organize the arrays—creating the structure of the index—so that the index as a whole is easy to navigate.

Each of these elements—the entry and the array—fit together, like interlocking pieces, to create a coherent whole.
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A Note about Terminology

I’ve noticed that not every indexer, including books about indexing, distinguishes between entries and arrays. I’m guilty myself of using the terms interchangeably, though I try to be clear when I’m writing.

But while terminology varies, I do think that the distinction is important. Because an index is composed of hundreds or thousands of pieces of information, it helps to know what these pieces are and how they interact with each other. An index is also easier to edit and organize if these building blocks are clearly written and well thought out.

As you index, how are these building blocks fitting together? How can you be more mindful of each piece of information and how it interacts with the entries and arrays around it? Does it make a difference to think about indexing as building up from the smallest unit to the larger whole? Feel free to let me know.

Yours in indexing,

Stephen