Charles (Chuck) Jones was a pioneering animator, best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons.

Jones claimed [1] that he and the other artists behind the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote cartoons adhered to a set of nine strict rules:

1. The Road Runner cannot harm the Coyote except by going “Beep-Beep!”
2. No outside force can harm the Coyote — only his own ineptitude or the failure of the Acme products.
3. The Coyote could stop anytime — if he were not a fanatic. (“A fanatic is one who redoubles his effort when he has forgotten his aim.” — George Santayana).
4. No dialogue ever, except “Beep-Beep!”
5. The Road Runner must stay on the road — otherwise, logically, he would not be called a Road Runner.
6. All action must be confined to the natural environment of the two characters — the southwest American desert.
7. All materials, tools, weapons or mechanical conveniences must be obtained from the Acme Corporation.
8. Whenever possible, make gravity the Coyote’s greatest enemy.
9. The Coyote is always more humiliated than harmed by his failures.

Jones’ rules of engagement between Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner can now be found all over the internet, made more remarkable by the fact they may never actually have existed in the first place. Michael Maltese, the principal writer and storyboard artist for the original 16 Road Runner episodes, has stated that he had never heard of these rules, dismissing them simply as “post-production observation” [2].

Pre-existing rules, or post-production observation? Either way, these are interesting ideas that we can apply to our own world building.

One option might be to draw up a list of strict rules or rigorous laws for the world you are creating, and to do this at the very start of a project. These rules would then impose constraints that inspire events, interactions and outcomes in a consistently pleasing way.

A second option could be to create your project and then, in a process of “post-production observation”, look for the patterns of behaviour or recurring interactions that suggest what the rules of your universe are. This retrospective analysis can then be used to further refine and clarify your world building.