How do I move my chainring without moving my crank arm?
If your bike was previously set up with three chainrings, then the new single ring should be placed in the middle chainring location (i.e., on the inside of the four mounting points of the crank).  Assuming that this is a somewhat ordinary mountain bike, the previous middle chainring was likely a 32t, so the new 34t single ring should fit with sufficient clearance between the ring and the chainstay.  This should substantially reduce your cross-chaining issues, although it is worth noting that a 1x setup will never have as straight of a chainline in either the lowest or highest gears as a properly used 3x setup.