It is truer than ever in the age of on-line publishing and hypertext. The problem of what to say is one that plagues most writers in one way or another. Whatever you are trying to say can usually be said better, by knowing and applying the principles of composition. Hypertext fiction and linear fiction are very different in most aspects of writing. First, linear form leaves the reader with the simple task of flipping page after page from the beginning to the end.
Linear fiction is ideal if the author wants to be in control.
For the most part, people s understanding of a story is generally the same because the plot is directed and planned out for the reader. Second, linear fiction usually has to be read all the way through to understand the story completely. I ve missed important information on characters and controversies. There is no standard order that a story has to be read. In a sense, this is how it differs from linear form of writing because the reader is in control.