Hi, and thanks for taking the time to look at my page.

Writing has been a central focus of my life for longer than I can remember. My mother still keeps my first published effort - a poem that appeared in the parish magazine when I was eight or so - in her handbag, and uses it to embarrass me on every possible occasion, but honestly, I have improved since!

I graduated with a B.A. in English and Social Sciences from Exeter University, then in a major departure that I don't really understand myself, except that I had student debts to pay and jobs using my degree subjects were hard to find, started a career in computing as a support person, just as PCs began to be a major tool in business. This role evolved first into management, and later into consultancy and training and during its evolution I first took a Masters degree in I.T. and then began some part time lecturing. During all this time, however, I never stopped writing poetry, fiction, songs and parodies - although I did it primarily as a hobby, publishing very little apart from poems in the odd anthology and a book of Christmas Carol parodies, which was sold (very successfully) to raise money for charity.

In 1994, I and my family emigrated from the UK to New Zealand, where I found work developing (and occasionally delivering) training materials across the whole spectrum of management, business, and communication, before starting my own business which included writing ten self-directed learning packages to guide students through the steps to gaining Unit Standard qualifications on the New Zealand National Qualifications Framework.

Over the past few years I have returned very strongly to literature - I edit and contribute to an online arts magazine called Extraverse, and have published poetry and fiction in the UK, New Zealand, Australia, the US and Sweden. I'm currently seeking publishers for my first novel and a collection of poetry, and am a good way through my second novel. I'm also a tutor on the Creative Writing paper for Massey University, and an anthology, entitled "Hot Ink", of work produced by students on the paper  was published in December 2002. I love teaching - it gives me a real rush to be involved in the process of opening people's minds to new experiences, knowledge and skills.

I have undertaken an in-depth study of what makes training materials effective, to ensure that the learner gets the greatest possible benefit out of any training they undertake. I wrote a book on the subject, and apply these best-practice principles to all the learning materials I write, including my first self-help guide, which couples my passion for poetry with my passion for learning. I'm working on a second guide to complement the first and make a deeper exploration of poetry, especially complex forms.

I think you'll find the guide clear, informative and easy to follow, and I hope you have fun working through it, too - I believe learning should always be fun, as you rise to meet new challenges and unlock new abilities and talents, and I've tried to incorporate that element into the guide.

Enjoy!

email: joygreen@xtra.co.nz

Guides written by this Author (click title to view more information)

How to Write Poetry Structured Poetry - How to haiku, write sonnets, villanelles and other complex forms. (Due out soon - Click to reserve a copy)