linear structure

narratives have a linear structure driven by time,
theories have a linear structure directed by logic
speaking is linear, one word after another, but that doesn’t stop speakers (and listeners) from interrupting themselves with tangential thoughts
our own thoughts, frequently articulated in inner speech; they hardly walk a straight line and sometimes fly out in too many directions at once
music is linear in time but spatial over the instruments, which can come in at different times and play different notes at different paces and places.
painting has composition, not linear, but center and periphery.