Should I or would it be easier if I wrote my planned big book into a short story consisting of only a chapters worth of pages? You know, how T.V producers and directors plan episodes based on books, they get the story for each episode and make a short story out of what they want. Do you think it would be an easier process than writing a big book then once I have written the short story, start filling in the gaps?
If you are writing a Novel, there should be a common theme binding all your scenes (stories) together. So if you can do that with your short stories, even if the theme is a parallel story, it could work. i.e. The story could be about different people's lives, but they live in the same place, or they are drawn together by an event, maybe an air crash, or concert, etc.
Otherwise all you have is a book of short stories.
Those are just outlines, expanded a bit :)
I also agree that this is a good idea....but then I am an obsessive plotter. What your looking to do is generally considered a working synopsis rather than short story (are you thinking of story boarding?).
As in what you write is less polished and more generalised/bullet point - as Victoria described. Though if you get the flow for a sentence/para you know will be used write it. Better to have it and decide not to use it, then want it and forget!
This is a great way to ensure that your narrative as a sound structure and each element is accounted for. Although do not be surprised if things change once you set down to writing. Many authors use such a guide as a way of calculating the length of their to-be manuscript.
Perhaps you know that each chapter will be 5k est. You have planned 12 chapters. Total est of 60k...but you are writing a fantasy. This will not be long enough...now you know that your plot needs expanding, and with your chapter plan you can see where that growth needs to occur. Or perhaps your est comes out at a bilious 160k est... So yeah, very useful :)