In each of the four stages of story communication, authors have recognized four aspects of storytelling at work: Genre, Plot, Theme and Character. In other words, first there must be a Storyforming stage in which the author designs Genre, Plot, Theme, and Character as dramatic concepts. Next is the Encoding stage where the author symbolizes Genre, Plot, Theme, and Character into the language of the culture. Stage three, Storyweaving, sees the author blend the symbolic representations into a seamless flow that presents the symbols for Genre, Plot, Theme, and Character to an audience. The final stage of Reception puts the audience to work decoding the symbols to understand the author's intent as represented in Genre, Plot, Theme, and Character.

Naturally, with so many internal steps and story points, the opportunity for miscommunication is great. In addition, since the audience members are looking from stage four back to stage one, they are authors of their own Reception. In this role the audience may create meaning fully supported by the symbology, yet never intended by the author.