A hypertext must be interactive. A hypertext writer must sacrifice some authority over his or her work and give choices to readers but also be aware of when he or she remains in control. Readers of traditional print texts must adjust their reading process to enjoyably read a hypertext. They have to get into the driver's seat of the text. Not every electronic text forces the reader to be the driver. These are not hypertexts by my definition, though. Hypertexts should never lose their interactivity. Of the few foundational, a priori characteristics of hypertext I discuss, this is the most integral one.

In place of the term "interactive," I am borrowing the more descriptive term "ergodic" from Espen Aarseth's Cybertext. Aarseth defines it thusly: "In ergodic literature, nontrivial effort is required to allow the reader to traverse the text"(1). Aarseth defines trivial effort as things like "eye movement and the periodic or arbitrary turning of pages"(2). Ergodic literature includes many texts that are rarely included in hypertext criticism, and for Aarseth, the category includes non-electronic literature (such as the I Ching or the Tarot) in addition to computer games and canonical hypertexts. Despite the relative focus of my exploration of hypertext, the openness of ergodicism is important in discussing hypertext's capabilities. A reader can interact with an ergodic text on levels that are extratextual and independent of narrative.

So, although defining a hypertext as ergodic may exclude some visions of hypertext (as nothing more than a linear electronic work, for example), it includes newer works that come from different artistic traditions.