Dramatica makes a clear distinction between two different phases of story creation: storyforming and Illustrating.

Whereas storyforming is the process of creating a story's dramatic skeleton, or structure, illustrating is the process of fleshing out that skeleton. Here, you illustrate your storyform choices with specific examples--in the form of description, dialogue, events, etc.--that can become portions of your finished story.

Storyweaving--here, you can further develop your Illustrating into more detailed story Exposition. Then, construct scenes that combine into a narrative treatment of your story (Scenes for a screenplay or stage play, Chapters or Scenes for a novel).

In the Scene Creation phase of storyweaving, you can also incorporate your story's Signposts (indicators of where the characters stand at certain key points) and Journeys (dramatic acts between signposts) into a linear time line for your story. While doing so, you assign each of Dramatica's story elements to one or more scenes, ensuring that they are represented throughout the story.

(Note: Signposts and journeys are elements of Plot Progression. In the StoryGuide, they are used in the Level 3 path, but not in the Level 1 or Level 2 paths.)