Mark,

Thanks for your thoughts. You kind of answered your own question!

But I’d add that in many cases the more ambiguity there is at the beginning, the more important that it pays off in some way later, that it’s clearly part of a plan and not just the writer’s lack of clarity. The more suspense that’s built, question raised in the listener’s mind, the more important it is that the ‘payoff’ make the suspense, so to speak, worthwhile.

TC

“Flying way up here
I ain’t got no fear
Looking down on you
I know what to do”

Some of my fellow classmates said this song reminded them of David Bowie’s Space Oddity (I’m a beginner so I’m flying around at a lower altitude!!), and though I definitely didn’t consciously have that song in mind, I do see the similarity. So I will replicate here the opening lyric of that song:

“Ground Control to Major Tom
Ground Control to Major Tom
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on
Ground Control to Major Tom (ten, nine, eight, seven, six)
Commencing countdown, engines on (five, four, three)
Check ignition and may God’s love be with you (two, one, liftoff)”

Comparing the two, without a doubt the Space Oddity lyric pretty quickly paints the situation for you. My opening lines are a lot more ambiguous. Someone fearless and knowing is flying above us, but who is it? Why is he that way?

In my case, the ambiguity is on purpose – it was a creative take on a class assignment, a case in which a helicopter pilot reminded me of others who sit on top of things and judge from above. However, if that’s not clear to the listener, it’s not going to have the same power for them as it does for me.

If I end up figuring this out later with respect to my own work, I’m making a mental note here to come back and do the same 🙂