I am used to writing fantasy/dystopian fiction but am trying out writing a crime novel, set in real time/real world. I was wondering how you pick a setting for your novel? I am from Canada, and know that any Canadian setting would not be as widely accessible as something set in the US, but the only area of the US I really have any knowledge of is Western New York/ Buffalo as it is close to where I grew up. I need a University and a town about 3 hours from that University. I was thinking of picking a school and then just making a nondescript town near by or making up my own town name in that state. Would something like that work?
There's loads of universities in the US, so realistically you could choose any of them. If I was doing it I would choose a relatively small university in an area where the locals don't really like the students, because that gives you lots of opportunity for tensions and accusations all over the place.
Yes, I think your idea works just fine. Picking a university, making up a plausible small town nearby. For me, it seems safer than trying to write about a small town you've never been to. Small towns are very distinct and each has its own character. You'd be able to make up everything you need to about this town because it isn't real and you don't need to restrict yourself to local culture (which you wouldn't know anyway if you haven't been there.)
In my stories they are real places and it can get a bit tricky. Lucky for me, it takes place years down the road, so if I need say, a church somewhere I can put it in without worrying about accuracy. If you don't live in the place you are writing, or have never been there, it would be smart to choose a school, then the town. I moved away from my location for a few years and used Google Earth for accuracy, maybe you can use something like that to put yourself there and write accurate descriptions.
What's wrong with Canada? Two of my favourite recent TV shows (Orphan Black and Continuum) have been set in Canada. Why do you think that a Canadian setting wouldn't be widely accessible? I doubt that Hawaii is particularly accessible to somebody from mainland US.
Canada works fine as a setting. It's pretty accessible to the US - not to mention that there's an entire Canadian publishing industry looking for books in Canadian settings for Canadian audiences.
Most likely, in the US your average university is going to be in a city and well within three hours of several more, rural locations such as the North woods areas of Northern Wisconsin or Minnesota, Michigan, Alaska maybe, are more likely to actually have the distance you describe. However, they also tend to have extremely low crime rates in places like that. The more important details of your setting will be determined by your characters and to a lesser extent the plot. The setting should be make the characters and the kinds of things that they do/or have happen to them are likely. While this does involve a fair amount of research it also adds a realism to the story that's difficult to achieve any other way.
Since you are from Canada, why don't you use Queens in Kingston and make Toronto your city. After all, with a former mayor like Ford, who has not heard of Toronto?
I think Canada is a brilliant location. Even if some people are clueless about Canadian lifestyle, you could turn this to your advantage by bringing your country closer to the readers.
