While a writer in any form has the majority of control over pacing, a reader can still put down a book–through hard to do in the middle of dramatic action unless your phone is ringing. Basically, the building up of a scene includes tension and conflict and resolution and this is controlled by short sentences, concise wording, etc. as well as chapter breaks.
In hypertext format, there is less control over where the reader is going to go next, so since a single linear narrative is not the case, all roads must lead to hell. You know what I mean; to a satisfaction of scenario.
What I’ve just read through in this novel was dramatic and ongoing (in the present?), and it came to a resolution so things calmed down, then Ham went off on a tirade of what if’s to a couple of ladies and then, both sequences really ended with this:
(Ham on empty space)
I heard wind and water. Another car being washed. The women were gone. I unrolled a sore set of fingers, opening my palms to the sky. I had to laugh at myself, at this empty space.
Ersinghaus controlled the reading by not having links available during the two main dramatic sessions. After a couple of textboxes, I wasn’t pressing the CTRL key to even check, moving swiftly (in step with the writing) from one box to another, following the proper course of events. The final entry as given above is a breather for Ham the same as it is for the reader.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology