Dramatica Theory Book

Chapter 20: Section Two: The Art of Storytelling (Continued)

The Four Stages of Communication

There are four stages of communication that stand between an author and an audience when a story is related.

Stage one is Storyforming, in which the arrangement and sequence of dramatic appreciations are determined.

Stage two is Encoding where the Storyform appreciations are translated into topics and events that symbolize the essential dramatic concepts in terms the author anticipates will have meaning to an audience.

Stage three is Storyweaving, where all the independent illustrations are woven together into a synthesized whole that is the story as it will be presented to an audience.

Stage four is Reception in which the audience assigns meaning to what they observe the work to be, hopefully decoding the intent of the author with some degree of accuracy.