How to light a nice slow-burning fire

My method of making a slow-burning fire that lasts a good long time for the amount of wood is to do this:

Place a surface of wood on the bottom. On top, place two pieces of wood parallel to each other with a space between. Put a firestarter there. Place two parallel pieces of wood (with a space between) perpendicular to the others, on top. Keep adding more layers in that fashion the longer you want it to burn (even little blocks of wood work for this effect). Light the firestarter. The fire should shoot up through the middle hole, and begin to light all the wood in the center. You'd think it would burn fast, but it doesn't. It does get decently warm, however (by the time the wood topples over, there are a lot of coals, and it should be plenty warm; then you can burn additional wood quickly on those coals, if desired).

If you're having difficulty envisioning the way the wood is stacked, imagine a Jenga stack with the middle piece of each layer taken out.