More than three years ago, I started my own English editing company. I wanted to become a full-time freelancer by the time my son goes to college. Things are going smoothly, except that I need to write one last research paper myself...
I work hard, but I also need to have a motivation to work hard, such as a little vacation. I thought that I would take two weeks off in early August, and informed some of my clients so. Well, things went north, way north. Half of the time while I was vacationing in Seattle, I was doing editing. There was hardly one day that I could tell friends there is nothing to edit, except for last Friday.
Yes, it was stressful at times when I had five manuscripts that needed to be finished in five days. I had to re-learn how to relax my eyes and hands. Is it rewarding? (This is a question from a colleague at the beginning of my editing career.) Well, not all the time, but here is one good example why I enjoy editing.
I edited a short paper (less than 3,000 words) yesterday. It had five experiments, but the authors failed to explain why the first two have big differences. I commented: "Take these experiments out, if you cannot explain why they are different."
This morning, I woke up by my alarm (because I stayed up late last night by reading an exciting chapter of a detective book). Suddenly, I had an answer for the paper I edited yesterday. Eurake!