The audience can jump to which ever link they prefer. For example, maybe a variety of character descriptions are designed links, to read about one or all of them would not take anything away from the overall story. Hypertext is nice, because as an author you can create background information that may shed light on a story or make the understanding of the plot that much clearer. Another nice quality about hypertext, is authoring is only the beginning. In developing a story, the writer gets to design the layout of his web page and create pictures that will enhance his story.
Good hypertext supplies lots of information at the top of each item.
It has been known that the first few words of any work are crucial. That is why we all work hard on the beginnings. In my writing, I often find that the opening sentence or paragraph takes as much time as the rest of the piece, combined. A reader using a computer usually gets to see only the first few words, or perhaps the first few dozen words that you have prepared in any one text. On that basis, the reader must decide whether to continue reading, skip to another section of prose you have written, or he can lose interest and just sign off.