Being dumped by a lover is never pleasant. Working through any residual anger and bitterness arising from a break-up involves a good deal of moping around, crying to friends, listening to depressing music and drinking to numb the pain, until eventually (hopefully) we make peace with it, let go of the resentment, and move on.

That's how it goes for regular people anyway. The creative types, on the other hand, don't just get mad -- they get writing. A case in point is the new comedy (500) Days of Summer, which bucks the romcom trend by focusing on a failed relationship, as opposed to an idealised Hollywood romance.

The movie's screenwriter, Scott Neustadter, has revealed that his script was inspired by his doomed romance with a girl that he met while studying in the London School of Economics in the early Noughties.

And in case viewers were in any doubt about Neustadter's feelings on the break-up, (500) Days of Summer opens with a disclaimer on screen reading: "Any resemblance to people living or dead is purely coincidental", before it adds: "Especially you, Jenny Beckman. Bitch" (He refuses to confirm if this is the girl's real name).

Be it therapeutic, or simply bitter and unhealthy, Neustadter isn't the first person to get revenge on an ex through the medium of art. Novelists, film-makers and particularly songwriters have been doing it for years. Here are a few of the more notable examples:

Nora Ephron

Writer-director Ephron married Watergate-cracking journalist Carl Bernstein in 1976, but, four years later, she uncovered his affair with (married) British politician Margaret Jay. Ephron turned the pain from their separation into a novel called Heartburn (1983), an acidic, transparently personal story about a wife named Rachel and her cheating husband Mark that was later made into a movie starring Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson.

Killer line: "The man is capable of having sex with a venetian blind."

Claire Bloom and Philip Roth

British actress Bloom married esteemed American novelist Roth in 1990, but they divorced some five years later. Their relationship had always been famously tumultuous, but in 1996, she published her memoir, Leaving a Doll's House, in which she depicted her ex-husband as a cruel, self-involved misogynist.

Two years later, Roth published I Married A Communist, a fictional novel in which a conniving, anti-Semitic actress named Eve Frame destroys her actor husband during the McCarthy witch-hunts of the 1950s. Many critics believe that Roth used Eve to vent his fury at Bloom.

Killer line: "Beneath [Philip's] diamond-sharp observation was a deep and irrepressible rage: anger at being trapped in marriage; fear of giving up autonomy; and a profound distrust of the sexual power of women."

Alanis Morissette

The Canadian rocker's 1995 album Jagged Little Pill contained more than a hint of rage against a cheating ex-boyfriend (rumoured to be actor Dave Coulier from TV sitcom Full House). Continuing the trend, her latest album, Flavours of Entanglement, seems to be coloured by her break-up with actor Ryan Reynolds, though not to such a vitriolic degree.

Killer line: "It was a slap in the face/how quickly I was replaced/and are you thinking of me when you f*ck her?" (from the track 'You Oughta Know')

Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears

The former Mouseketeers split in 2002 after four years together, amidst reports that Britney had been unfaithful.

JT's subsequent single, 'Cry Me a River', seemed to indict the pop princess for her cheatin' ways. For her part, Britney (below) hinted at her regret in the song, 'Everytime'.

Killer line: "You don't have to say/what you did/I already know/I found out from him.

Now there's just no chance, for you and me, there'll never be/And don't it make you sad about it." ('Cry Me a River')

Eamon and Frankee

In 2004, the pop world was "treated" to a double whammy of revenge songs by two ex-lovers. Hip-hop star Eamon topped the charts first with a track sensitively entitled, 'F*ck It (I Don't Want You Back)'.

Not to be outdone, R&B singer Frankee retaliated with 'F.U.R.B (F*ck U Right Back)'. However, many industry heads have written off both tracks as cynical marketing ploys by the artists' labels.

Killer line: "F*ck what I said/It don't mean sh*t now/F*ck the presents, might as well throw 'em out/F*ck all those kisses/They didn't mean jack/F*ck you, you h*e/I don't want you back."

Carly Simon

One of the most famous post-break-up songs out there, Simon's lyrics for her single 'You're So Vain' have been endlessly analysed since 1972.

The narcissistic target of the song is believed to be Warren Beatty, though other culprits might be Mick Jagger, Cat Stevens, Kris Kristofferson or James Taylor.

Killer line: "But you gave away the things you loved/And one of them was me."

Fleetwood Mac

You could pick just about any song at random from these legendary rockers' back catalogue and find lyrical evidence of broken hearts, strained affairs and romantic dysfunction.

But Lindsey Buckingham penned perhaps the band's definitive break-up song, 'Go Your Own Way', about his on-again-off-again lover, Stevie Nicks.

Killer line: "If I could/maybe I'd give you my world/How can I/When you won't take it from me?"