Dive into the writing secrets of Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. Learn how to build emotional stakes, balance humor with darkness, and develop unforgettable characters like Carl and Princess Donut, even in the most outlandish settings. Tips for writing Lit RPG and more with co-hosts Megan Manzano and Ayesha Ali and as always, Miranda Darrow, official Carl Superfan.SPOILER ALERT - This video contains major spoilers for the first book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman. Ayesha’s website: https://writingpowerup.com/Megan's website: https://meganmanzano12.wixsite.com/md...

00:00 start02:07 Q1 How does the author establish credibility with this wild premise06:55 Q2 Game mechanics without overload13:15 Q3 Character agency when they're in a game20:29 Q4 Pacing27:06 Q5 Humanizing Princess Donut32:48 Q6 Use of Humor, emotional balance37:48 Q7 Power of relationships41:21 Q8 Worldbuilding without info-dumping47:36 Q9 Limitations imposed by the world building51:27 Q10 Writing craft takeaways55:25 ENDFollow me on all my social media pages:Website: https://www.mirandadarrow.com/Facebook: / miranda.darrow Instagram: / miranda.darrow X/Twitter: https://x.com/Miranda_DarrowThreads: https://www.threads.net/@miranda.darrowBlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/miranda-darr...

Librarian and super-reader Ellie Dynek and Miranda go deep into Abby Jimenez's Just for the Summer where we explore her many uses of the central trope: they're both the last person to date others before they find their true love. These two date each other to break this curse, of course, and it impacts the character growth arcs, the plot, the pacing, pretty much everything. Romance writers, take note!

SPOILER alert for the novel. This is a craft-heavy, spoiler-friendly discussion designed to help writers see how the technique works on the page—and how they might apply it in their own fiction.

Miranda’s  social media pages: Website: https://www.mirandadarrow.com/ Facebook Page:   / bookmdediting  Instagram:   / miranda.darrow  X/Twitter: https://x.com/Miranda_Darrow Threads: https://www.threads.net/@miranda.darrow

Book Coach Gala Russ and Miranda dive into Jason Reynold's Twenty-Four Second from Now. Together we examine the impact of the story's reverse chronological story structure and its impact on the forward character growth arc of Neon, the main character and its impact on pacing and plotting.  

SPOILER alert for the novel. This is a craft-heavy,spoiler-friendly discussion designed to help writers see how the technique works on the page—and how they might apply it in their own fiction.

Gala's website: https://galarussauthor.com/ Miranda’s  social media pages: Website: https://www.mirandadarrow.com/ Facebook Page:   / bookmdediting  Instagram:   / miranda.darrow  X/Twitter: https://x.com/Miranda_Darrow Threads: https://www.threads.net/@miranda.darrow

Author Barbara Gene Cardin and Miranda  dive into Missing White Woman by Kellye Garrett. Together we examine the impact of modern social media and technology in today's thriller novels and how that impacts pacing, stakes, and how the case gets solved.

SPOILER alert for the novel. This is a craft-heavy,spoiler-friendly discussion designed to help writers see how the technique works on the page—and how they might apply it in their own fiction.

Barbara's website: https://www.barbaragenecardin.com/

Miranda’s  social media pages: Website: https://www.mirandadarrow.com/ Facebook Page:   / bookmdediting  Instagram:   / miranda.darrow  X/Twitter: https://x.com/Miranda_Darrow Threads: https://www.threads.net/@miranda.darrow

Book Coach Sue Brown Moore and Miranda  dive into Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. Together we examine the differences between writing romance genre and romantasy, talk about the pacing and proportion differences, and have tips for authors wanting to break into this very hot romantasy genre. 

SPOILER alert for the novel. This is a craft-heavy,spoiler-friendly discussion designed to help writers see how the technique works on the page—and how they might apply it in their own fiction.

Sue Brown Moore's website: https://www.suebrownmoore.com/

Miranda’s  socialmedia pages: Website: https://www.mirandadarrow.com/ Facebook Page:   / bookmdediting  Instagram:   / miranda.darrow  X/Twitter: https://x.com/Miranda_Darrow Threads: https://www.threads.net/@miranda.darrow

Editor MA Hinkle and Miranda dive into James Islington's The Will of the Many to explore how the author conveyed vast worldbuilding and an entire system of power distribution in this universe with huge blocks of infodumping or front-loading.

SPOILER alert for the novel. This is a craft-heavy, spoiler-friendly discussion designed to help writers see how the technique works on the page—and how they mightapply it in their own fiction.

MA Hinkle's website: https://www.cheshirecateditorial.com/

Miranda’s  social media pages: Website: https://www.mirandadarrow.com/ Facebook Page:   / bookmdediting  Instagram:   / miranda.darrow  X/Twitter: https://x.com/Miranda_Darrow Threads: https://www.threads.net/@miranda.darrow

Author Sophia Chang and I unpack Kill Your Darlings by Peter Swanson and its use of a reverse timeline in a murder mystery that’s less a whodunit and more a whydunit. SPOILERS for the novel. Together, we explore:

• How reverse chronology reshapes suspense and pacing
• Breadcrumbs, foreshadowing, and payoff in a backward narrative
• Character arcs when time moves in reverse
• Whether a reverse-told thriller can still have a climax
• What writers can learn (and what they should watch out for)This is a craft-heavy, spoiler-friendly discussion designed to help writers see how the technique works on the page—and how they might apply it in their own fiction.

Sophia Chang'sYouTube:    / @authorsophiachang  Website: https://www.sophiachang.com/Substack: https://thesophiachang.substack.com/

For updates, follow me on all my social media pages:Website: https://www.mirandadarrow.com/Facebook Page:   / bookmdediting  Instagram:   / miranda.darrow   X/Twitter: https://x.com/Miranda_DarrowThreads: https://www.threads.net/@miranda.darrow

Welcome to Novel Deep Dive: Reverse Engineering Today's Bestsellers, the video podcast where we look beyond what makes a current bestselling novel memorable to discover how it works.

Freelance fiction editor Miranda Darrow invites authors, editors, and writing professionals to reverse engineer today's bestselling fiction and uncover practical writing craft techniques writers can apply to their own stories.

Every episode focuses on one novel, one writing craft topic, ranging from story structure to POV to character arcs and more. These discussions include plenty of spoilers—because sometimes the best way to understand a great story is to take it apart and see how it was built.

This trailer explains the concept for this series and highlights the writing craft aspects we'll explore in some upcoming episodes from Season 1 including:

Dungeon Crawler Carl

Fourth Wing

Just for the Summer

Atmosphere

The Will of the Many

Missing White Woman

and more! The first six episodes will be available September 1, 2026 with new episodes every two weeks all season.