There are four stages of communication that stand between an author and an audience. Stage one is Storyforming, in which the arrangement and sequence of dramatic story points are determined. Stage two is encoding (Storyencoding) where the storyform story points are translated into topics and events that symbolize the essential dramatic concepts in terms the author expects has meaning to an audience. Stage three is Storyweaving, where all the independent illustrations are woven together into an integrated whole that is the story as it will be presented to an audience. Stage four is Story Reception in which the audience assigns meaning to the work, hopefully decoding the intent of the author with some degree of accuracy.

In bringing a story to an audience, through any media, there are four distinct stages of communication through which the story will pass. When an author is developing a story or looking for ways in which to improve it, it is a good idea to evaluate how the story is working at each of these stages individually. Problems can exist in any single stage or bridge across into many. Seeing where the problem lies is half the work of fixing it.

The Four Stages are:

Stage 1: Storyforming--where the structural design and dynamic settings of an idea are created. This is where the original meaning of the story is born, the meaning that the author wants to communicate.

Stage 2: Storyencoding--where the symbols with which the author will work are chosen. Stories are presented through characters, setting, and other details that symbolize the meaning of the story. No symbols are inherently part of any storyform, so the choices of how a particular storyform is Storyencoded must be considered carefully.

Stage 3: Storyweaving--where the author selects an order and emphasis to use in presenting his encoded story to his audience in the final work. The way in which to deliver a story to an audience, piece by piece, involves decisions about what to present first, second, and last. The potential tactics are countless. You may start with the beginning, as in Star Wars, or you my start with the end, as in Remains of the Day, or with some combination, as in The Usual Suspects. What you most want the audience to be thinking about will guide your decisions in this stage, because choices made here have the most effect on the experience of receiving the story as an audience member.

Stage 4: Story Reception--where the audience takes over, interpreting the symbols they've received and making meaning of the story. The audience is an active participant in its relationship with a story. It has preconceptions which affect how it will see anything put in front of it. The audience is presented with a finished, Storywoven work and hopes to be able to interpret the work's symbols and decipher the Storyforming intent of the authors behind the work. The accuracy with which this is carried out has a lot to do with how the story was developed in the other three stages of communication.

There are many ways to play with any one of these stages and many reasons for doing so. It all depends on what impact the author wants to make with his work.