Many thanks for the shout out Carrie. To your question: I use one of two literary devices. IF what I have to write about could potentially hurt or damage someone else I make a mashup of that person's identity to the point where they are unrecognizable to anyone who might know them. I use the same kinds of points but not the specific points so that their identity is protected. I only made a mistake one time by not doing this and it caused real hurt and I lost a friend. While it was in no way my intention to do harm, I did do harm, and it taught me to at all costs protect those I care about. Otherwise if someone has a quote that I find really impactful, I get permission to use it AND I get permission to use their name, and if they say use the quote but not the name that gets respected. I can and do write about people and life's terrible truths, the stories are all real, but the bottom line for me is that people don't get hurt if I go public. The greater truth, if we are writing for a higher purpose, the more important the truth. If we write to out someone who caused us hurt and that person also gets hurt that just makes us evil.