More stories that aren't in NYC

If I ever become a famous author, or a prominent screenwriter or playwright, I'm pledging right now to never write a story that takes place in New York City.

This is not meant as a slight to the great city of New York, on the contrary, as with many tourist, I love New York. I've a diverse and interesting city with no shortage of things to do, or interesting people to meet, and it's abundantly clear why it would be an interesting place to set a fictional story. But it seems like a disproportionate percentage of movies and television shows take place in the Big Apple.

I don't have an official tally, but let's consider some of the most famous TV shows of the past few decades: Sex in the City, Friends, King of Queens, How I Met Your Mother, Law and Order, Mad Men, Ugly Betty, 30 Rock, Castle, Glee, literally every Marvel superhero series. All set in New York City.

And check out the Wikipedia page for movies that take place in NYC, there's hundreds.

It's the most populous city in the nation at around 8.5 million people, which is still only a fraction of the U.S. population. Even if you include the nearly 20 million people who live in the New York Metropolitan Area, it's still less than a 10th of the country. The vast majority of us don't live anywhere near New York, and we deserve to have our stories told.

It's fair to say that New York is over-represented. I won't contribute to that over-representation, and I hope other writers will see this post and follow suit.