Linear vs. Open Storytelling

There are two ways to tell a story: give people a linear story where the end of each segment points in the direction of the next, or  give people an open world and let them explore until they piece things together. The very nature of the written word seems to demand the linear style, but I would argue you could do either. The difference is the nature of the character.

Imagine the stories where the protagonist enters a dangerous place, like sneaking into enemy territory, or even walking around town when their face is on wanted posters or shown on the evening news. They can't wander around. They can't strike up conversations with strangers. Whoever they may find that they can trust, that's about it. They have to hope that every new piece of information they get will uncover some key factor that will open up the next step.

Now imagine a story where the protagonist is doing everything in their home town. They know all the important people, all the usual places. They can go back and forth, checking in on the same places over and over again as necessary.

It may seem like a written story is linear because everything is preordained, but I think that's an illusion. The character was working within a sandbox; you the audience merely saw what the character chose to do with their time in it. That is different from a character who always seems to have only one option and the only real question is whether they succeed at the next part or not.