Give me a concept, and then I can worldbuild in ways to make that concept stronger and more awesome. But I want to build a setting, not just fill out a map.
There's no rule for how to do it - but there's nothing stopping you from taking whatever inspiration you like from any source that suits you.
A quick question: has anybody designed their world first, populated it, decided on society and history etc and THEN thought 'right, what stories could happen here?'
Has the personal sandbox become inspiration for writing?
Thoughts/opinions?
I do pretty much the exact opposite. I come up with stories and characters I find intriguing and want to write about, and then I build the world around them.