Stay brave, but not unkind: how to write about friends, frenemies and family members

Fiction writers are familiar with friends, frenemies and family members (FFF) suspecting that a particular character – the clever one, the one who drinks too much, mistreats his wife, or the one who sleeps her way to the top – is in fact themselves (or their brother, their mate, their ex). They may be right – but not entirely.