I've found myself feeling very unmotivated to write lately, despite telling myself to do so. Sometimes I think it's the feeling of starting at the beginning is what does that. And by beginning, I mean in the beginning of the middle or the beginning of the end. So I've found a way to ensure that I never start at the beginning. I found myself doing this accidentally. I began writing a summary of my idea and then elaborated it. I elaborated it further and further into segments, and these segments began to break down into plot-points, which broke even further into individual scenes. Oh well if this 'technique' has a name already; I've never heard of it, and it is really helping me. Perhaps it can help any of you struggling to keep yourself writing at all.
You have just described one method of planning, as it relates to the difference between planners and pantsers.
It sounds like an outline to me. I get that a lot of writers, including myself, don't use them. But have you really never heard of an outline before?
Possibly also the Snowflake Method? You start with something big and break it down into smaller and smaller bits...
As others have mentioned, this is not new. But, it's really cool that you've found something that seems to work for you.
As someone who doesn't know every writing method under the sun, I find this interesting. I've done something similar to this and it works somewhat well for me. I go into the segments you described and then choose the part I feel like working on at the time. I'm too scatterbrained to go in a strictly chronological fashion. Glad to see you've got something good going.
I wish I could use this method, but my stories never have a planned middle and the plot often gets twists and turns as I write. I usually have one or two points I know I want to hit, but other than that, I'm very much a pantser. I've tried planning and outlining and . . . well I went as far as figuring out the first 15 pages. So glad you've figured out a method to help your creativity!
You're extrapolating from an initial outline. You're just working through the individual steps from synopsis to flesh.
Yes, I think that's a solution for some people who get stuck. Write something from somewhere else in the story. The author usually intends the story to read, from page one to 'the end,' but it doesn't need to be written this way at all. The more unconnected bits you write, the easier it is to find ways to connect them—at least in my experience.
One trick I picked up a few years ago was to always finish the writing day in the middle of a thought. That way, when I sat down the next morning, I already knew what the next few sentences were going to be. It didn't always work, but I found that if I started every day writing downhill I didn't have as many "duh" moments that torpedoed the day before I could get started.
