In my head I have the full background story of both Aaron and Amber. Since Aaron's basically me - I started writing this story for myself, after all - he's easy for me to relate to.
I have Amber and Emily down to a degree too… they're the worst human beings I could think of and karma is biting them in the butt big time for just a couple of their faults.
I know definitively what Amber wants and I know Emily's discovering she doesn't HAVE to be a carbon copy of her mom. She just doesn't know herself, what she actually wants out of life and she's spent her whole short life avoiding thinking about it - OR putting an ounce of effort into her behavior - after all, her mom didn't.
What I'm not sure about is what the READER wants to read? If I spend as much time as one reader suggested, detailing the back story and motivations, goals and outcomes, I'll end up with a war and peace sized saga that would and could never be concluded. I could always tell individual readers what they want to know so they can better appreciate the story, I guess?
So I'll put it to a vote. Who wants the blow by blow and who wants a results-based story that has an epilogue and stuff?
Do I provide details or just summarize that stuff and move ahead?