Including Friends in the Story?

I've found, that giving characters names, features (Physical), mannerisms, habits (Good & Bad), history, relationships (Good & Bad), illnesses, and anything else which benefits the story, of people I have known in the past, know now, and relatives, can have consequences which are GOOD & BAD. As yet, all have been ok. The key is telling them. If not told, they don't recognise themselves, and if told, seem in the main, to be happy to have their ego a little inflated.
"Do I really do that?" "I remember saying that?" "Thanks for including him, I hated him?" ............
Including everything above from yourself, is much easier to do. Just make sure not to include anything you want to be kept secret.

“All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.”
― Ernest Hemingway