paying attention

Lately, I’ve read stories by John Cheever and a novel called “The Cage” by his daughter, Susan. A common element of these stories, a thing present as a possible cause for the breakdown of these relationships, causes for accidents and oversights, forgetfulness that leads to hurt: not paying attention. So, I’ve thought over the last few days about characters in stories who pay attention. Had to think about this. One character in a film seems to stand out as one who paid attention: Donny Darko. Paying attention seems fundamental, yet I never thought about this until I met the distracted characters created by the Cheevers. I have decided to create a character who pays close attention.