Editor In Chief, Yes! Approaching 79 Years Of Age, How May I Help You?

Yes! I have just been appointed Editor in Chief by a PH department. Virtual Assistant, VA. As a VA, to paraphrase a favorite American poet, Edgar Allan Poe's "To Helen," I say: 

To the glory that is Grace,
To the grandeur that is Home.

I thank God I can work where I sit and earn more than my keep!

My field? Technical and popular Science, non-fiction anyway. I am referring to me being your VA for manuscripts in soft copy, editing a page or a thousand pages, producing a coffee-table book with many photographs taken by me, editing a technical report or thesis or dissertation of any length, including helping anyone write a technical paper for publication in a world-class journal. Know that I was the one-man band who made the Philippine Journal of Crop Science world-class or ISI where other editors failed in the previous 25 years – it was my experience plus mastery of 2: language and computer application.

Above, a shot I took of my ViewSonic 22-inch external monitor on 21 April 2018 – except me and my wife Ampy, all those shots were taken by me with a Lumix FZ100 digital camera. My Lumix is an extraordinary camera; well, I'm an extraordinary writer myself, aside from editor – I have blogged at least 6,000 long & short essays. Yes, I illustrate my pages with original photographs.

How did I convince thatPH department to hire me as a VA? Actually, they are not about to call me a VA, because that is not in their vocabulary, and I love that! Because:

What I have shown I can do for them is not virtual – it is real.

What this big department lacksis not necessarily creative writing but more of nuanced writing. Which is the problem with all of our Philippine media, in print or online, public or private, including the much-ballyhooed Rappler.

Here is an example of a headline:

DTI Sets Guidelines For Boracay
Shore Stops & Shops

Very correct-looking! The news is believable. (The alliteration I created just now is simply to make things look interesting.)

What's the problem with that headline? I told you, it's about nuanced reporting. Nuance means "a subtle or slight degree of difference, as in meaning, feeling, or tone" (American Heritage Dictionary, thefreedictionary.com).

Here's my corrected headline:

DTI Gets Stricter Implementing Guidelines
For Boracay Shore Stops & Shops

The Obvious difference is that the single word "Sets" has been replaced by 3 words, "Gets Stricter Implementing" – now, what's the Subtle but Big Difference?

The first, "Sets Guidelines…" implies that this is the very first time DTI has come up with guidelines on such and such. Which is not correct.

The second, "Gets Stricter Implementing…" implies that the guidelines have been there all along, except DTI is now being more strict with shore stops & shops because of complaints from tourists.

Nuanced writing. What you don't know can hurt you.

Yes, you need an Editor in Chief. Even a big PH department needs an Editor in Chief!@517