Can you put too much of your personal life in a work of fiction?

This is the question that is currently hanging over my head. It comes with three problems.

1. Does the familiar, realistic element of the character/story have a negative impact on the writing?
2. What happens if someone recognizes him or herself in your work?
3. Are you giving away too much of your personal life?

Aside from journaling, I write fiction. Telling the truth can open the door to a world of problems in your personal life. Personally, that’s not something I want to think about when I’m writing. (Kudos to those of you that do it.) Still, to say that we fiction writers don’t pull from our lives to write our stories would be a lie. The novel I’ve been working on for the last two years developed because of one of my obsessions. From there, it…