Writer's Revenge: Writing About Your Enemies

Yesterday's topic was writing about your friends. Today, I'll address the issue of using your enemies in your fiction.

I like it!

Now, I don't write specifically about people I don't like or include details about their life which would be identifiable. I don't want to open myself up to liability and I also don't expect that they will read my work anyway so it's not like I'll get that great "gotcha" when they see that they are the subject of ridicule in my story.

So, I use them for inspiration. A group of women that I found annoying become the bitches who get wine spilled on them in Dinner at the Club. A chronic bed wetter is named for a man who was rude to me at work. Relatives who were mean to me because of my weight get called out at a family wedding in Branches of the Family Tree (soon to be published on Discipline and Desire).

See? It's a profitable replacement for therapy.

What about you? How do you use your enemies to inspire your writing?