Writing Tips - The Importance of Back-Story

Beatles or Rolling Stones?
I had read out some of my work in progress, an adult novel, and the passage in question focused on my heroine’s seventy-three year old mother. So, Margaret asked, was she a fan of the Beatles or the Rolling Stones? I know all about the importance of back story, how it is vital in shaping your characters and informing your plot, but I couldn’t answer this question. And it made me realise that, in this instance, I didn’t know Dinah as well as I thought I did. It was a...