Robert McKee bases his advice on films but novelists can follow his tips as well. He states, regarding backstory, that novelists can free associate and "invade the thoughts and feelings of characters", which filmmakers cannot.
He says in bold type: "do not bring in a flashback until you have created in the audience the need and desire to know". It's good advice for novelists too even if we are able to do flashes of backstory in our characters' internalizations. The determination of how much past information to put into our story is easier if we keep McKee's advice in mind.
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