Adding Backstory - When and Where?

I get it. There is information in the character's past that we need to know about. But when and where do you dump that information?

For far too many authors, the approach is a huge dump. They get to a point and realize that the reader needs to know all of this information. So now, for paragraph after paragraph, they dump the back story. But truly, is this really necessary?

One of the editors I have worked with has a great approach. She believes in the drip approach. Drip some here. Drip some there. Bring up that information, ONLY when it is necessary. 

For authors, the problem is that they need it for their own world building. But do the readers really need it at that particular time? Probably not. 

Now, there is another twist to this. Maybe the information IS important. Now the author has to stop and think of how to deliver that information. In many cases, this can be done with a single line or, at the most, a paragraph of information. We don't need to know all of the small details of that past event. We just need to know what happened and why it is impacting the character at that particular time. 

This all comes down to word economy and keeping the reader interested. When you have a huge "info-dump" you just slowed down the story. You want them to keep reading. 

So your task this weekend, after your Mint Julip - Trim that story down. Look for those info dumps.