So you have decided to be an indexer. Maybe you have taken a course to learn how to index, and perhaps you have started to build your bridge so that you can transition to full-time freelance indexing. But still, a question remains (well, probably several questions, but we’ll get to the others later). How do you become good at indexing?

I have heard some new indexers talk about the course which they have taken as being a good starting point, but they are still not confident in their indexing abilities. They still have questions about how to construct a index, or about what terms to include, or about when subheadings are necessary and how to phrase the subheadings. This is an astute observation on the part of the new indexer, and I think it reveal the importance of practice.

About ten years ago, Malcolm Gladwell popularized the idea of needing to put in 10,000 hours of practice in order to achieve excellence. That claim is much disputed (more about that, and practice, here), and I do not think that you need to put in 10,000 hours to become an excellent indexer. Practice, though, is still important, especially deliberate, focused practice, in which you are able to be aware of what you are creating, and to find ways to improve. This ties nicely into the idea of life-long learning and professional development. I still try to improve my craft, even though I have been indexing for about seven years now, and have written around 200 indexes. I believe that I can get better.

The good news from this is that you do not need to be an expert to start freelancing. You need to be good enough so that you can do a decent job. You do, after all, want the client to hire you again or to recommend you to others. But practice is, essentially, deliberate doing, and once you have achieved a certain level of competency, you can practice as you work. 

But still, how to practice? Especially if you are at the start of your freelance career and no one has hired you yet. Perhaps you are like the new indexers I have talked to who have completed training, but are not yet confident in their abilities. There still are ways that you can practice. Practicing now, before your first paid job, will solidify your skills, give you confidence for when you do land that first job, and might also give you a portfolio which you can use to market yourself.

Here are a few suggestions for how to practice.

• Critique published indexes. Examine the indexes that are already on your bookshelf, visit the library, or browse indexes on Amazon using the Look Inside function. What does the index do well? What is done poorly? Is there anything unique about the index? Any rules broken? Why does it work or not work? Try to critique both poorly written indexes and excellent indexes. What differentiates the two? Look at several indexes from within the same subject or genre. What makes the good ones good? This is actually how I learned how to index. I had a short-term work placement with a university press, and one day I was handed an index, the press’ indexing guidelines, and the Chicago Manual of Style chapter on indexing. My job was to figure out if the index was ready for publication, and, if it was not, to fix it. After doing this several times, I was ready to try writing my first index.

• Find a book or report and index it. This can be a book off of your shelf or a PDF pulled from the internet. It can already have an index or you could be writing its first index ever. The point is that you are writing an index. No one is paying you for it, but you can use the resulting index in your portfolio.
• Volunteer your indexing services for a friend or local society. I know that as professionals, paid work is what we strive for, and I do not want to advocate doing too much for free. However, if you are trying to build confidence, your skills, and/or a portfolio, and you know of a person or group that could use an indexer, volunteering to write an index might be a win-win situation for one or two projects. Be clear on your reasons for taking on the project, and be clear with the client on the parameters of the project, and this could be a good stepping stone towards your freelance career.
• Ask for feedback from other indexers. And, see if you can critique other indexers’ works-in-progress. This can be a great way to both gain feedback and see what others do. If you are interested in this, there is an email group, Index Peer Reviewers, for this very purpose.

Practicing can feel like a chore, and it can feel disconnected from what you really want to do, which is to be a professional freelance indexer. But if you keep that goal in mind, and take the time now to practice, either while waiting for that first paid job to arrive or in anticipation of launching your freelance career, I think you will find that you will have greater confidence in your abilities, and be working at a higher level, which will help you find success sooner as a freelancer. So pick an approach and start practicing today.

The Freelance Career Launch Series is a set of posts about how to start your freelance career. The focus will be on indexing, because that is what I do, but the principles are universal.