Does anyone write out of revenge?

[Wanton_Wordsmith]

Here's another of my crazy questions: does use revenge as a reason to write? To get back at everyone who ever laughed at you? Does anyone ever write fictional antagonists based on bad people they knew in life? Based a bad character on a real jerk? Does anyone write fiction to get the angries out of their system? Or is that too passive/aggressive? I like to write horror fiction, and I used some bad experiences from my school days as material for my stories. How do other writers handle bad life experiences? What do other writers handle revenge wishes? Any comments are welcome.

[kboo1999]

Hi, I'm Kay. You might be a little surprised to hear this, but yes; I've written one too many of my short stories with the antagonists being people from middle school that teased and laughed at me for no apparent reason. They made me feel completely horrible, and like I was worth nothing. Therefore, in my stories, I make them like they make me feel...like nothings. I hope this answers your question fully.

~Kay

[moderntimes]

Absolutely yes!

What's good about being a writer of horror or, in my case, crime novels, is that you can kill off someone from your past in a particularly nasty or embarrassing way, heh heh.

Just be sure to obscure that real person sufficiently to avoid a lawsuit! Alter that person's identity such that the real person is not recognizable, except to you, then you can laugh ha ha ha ha when others react to that very nasty character getting what he or she deserved!

[rssllue]

In my past, I have most definitely done so. Not for quite some time now though.

[zeldas_lullaby]

Oh yeah. My answer is pretty similar to ModernTimes'. I do include cameo appearances in my books from "bad guys" that are exactly like people I've known, except of course I change their names (and not much else). I should add a few comments about this:

1) I have no intention of their finding and reading about themselves. I mainly do it for my own secret satisfaction. (Obviously it's not a secret now, but you know what I mean.)

2) I'm lucky enough to live with my dad, who is a libel and slander lawyer. If anyone hits me with a lawsuit, I'd be as protected as possible.

3) Of course, I'm not looking to get sued, or to upset anyone. It's mostly just therapeutic, and it tickles me.

4) I generally get revenge by painting people in a bad light, moreso than death by elevator shaft. (But that idea has potential...)

5) I used to be a lot more vindictive than I am now. I used to use words to harm people, and now I use them to enlighten and uplift. That's probably a good thing!

[rssllue]

I will make sure to stay on your good side then! Wait. Maybe it would be cool to die in one of your books.

[moderntimes]

You want revenge? Here's a "newspaper account" that my private eye Mitch King has saved and is re-reading it for the umpteenth time...

911 Call Reveals Possible Homicide

EMT technicians arrived at the 11000 block of Mission Vista in Memorial Wednesday evening, responding to a 911 call, but Houston police were soon dispatched as backup. The nude body of the homeowner, Theresa Bartlett, 26, was found in the outdoor whirlpool spa. She had apparently drowned after being thrown into the water unconscious. Indications were that she had been sexually assaulted and strangled.

Police arrested Bradley Chilton, 23, at the scene. Chilton identified himself as a fitness counselor and Bartlett’s boyfriend, and said that he lived with her. Chilton at first denied harming Bartlett but later admitted “grabbing” her and pushing her into the whirlpool after a bout of rough sex and an argument. Harris County prosecutors said that Chilton would be charged with homicide. A quantity of cocaine and marijuana was also seized at the residence.

This is not the first time that violence has visited this address. Last June, police found the body of homeowner Lawrence Trevillian at the same poolside, reportedly shot by an intruder. Theresa Bartlett, Trevillian’s girlfriend at the time, was present at the shooting and briefly considered a suspect, then cleared.

In tabloid-style circumstances, Trevillian’s alleged killer, Victor Allison, was later shot and killed by Houston private investigator Mitchell King. King had been hired to protect Bartlett during the investigation of the Trevillian murder and the two were rumored to be having an affair. Although initially detained for questioning about the Allison shooting, King was released and no charges were filed. When contacted regarding the death of Bartlett, King declined comment.

---- is that revenge or what? heh heh

[zeldas_lullaby]

I will make sure to stay on your good side then! Wait. Maybe it would be cool to die in one of your books.

HA HA HA... when Russell refused to declare a winner in the photo contest, he met a tragic end by falling into the sewers. He was mostly uninjured, but the alligators were ready to feed. As they crowded around him, Russell's last coherent thought was, "I never should have made Meg angry. I should have picked her photo over Mel's." And then he screamed like a little girl.

Totally kidding. OMG.

-- July 25th, 2015, 9:22 pm --

I feel better now than I have all day. Laughter and slaughter.

I did love the revenge scene at the end of your third book, ModernTimes! That was gruesome.

[moderntimes]

Thanks, Zelda. The ending in the 3rd book is of course against an imaginary person. The embarrassing death in the pool? A revenge, pure and simple.

[rssllue]

I will make sure to stay on your good side then! Wait. Maybe it would be cool to die in one of your books.

HA HA HA... when Russell refused to declare a winner in the photo contest, he met a tragic end by falling into the sewers. He was mostly uninjured, but the alligators were ready to feed. As they crowded around him, Russell's last coherent thought was, "I never should have made Meg angry. I should have picked her photo over Mel's." And then he screamed like a little girl.

Totally kidding. OMG.

-- July 25th, 2015, 9:22 pm --

I feel better now than I have all day. Laughter and slaughter.

My first fictional death (that I know of). Woo hoo!

[moderntimes]

Now, Zelda, just bask in the sunshine of your literary victory!

[zeldas_lullaby]

HA HA--you guys are hilarious.

I am basking in it, ModernTimes. Actually, I just reread it and now I'm laughing uncontrollably. The alligators were ready to feed?? Classic.

Yeah, I see what you mean--that guy who got it in the eye at the end of your third book was just a fictional character, whereas you have some cameo appearances sprinkled throughout in which a fateful end befalls someone you based on a real person. (That sentence started off good, but then it became too long!)

Russell, it's a rite of passage.

[moderntimes]

I think that there are plenty of authors who include revenge against their rivals or enemies or those whom they feel wronged them, but just don't let on. I seem to remember reading that Stephen King had an agent who'd treated him shabbily when he was just getting started, and put this person into one of his novels to die horribly.

Such literary revenge is best served up by horror and crime writers. Romance writers not so much.

[zeldas_lullaby]

What about comedy writers?

[moderntimes]

Comedy? Well, I'm certain that you never wanted to get on the bad side of the Marx brothers. They had an amazing reputation for pranks. But those were in real life, not fiction.