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Ago and other temporal adverbs

Trevor Bruhn

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I am getting my "ago"s flagged by a line editor who prefers "previously" if it is not in dialog.
Is there a thread on this? something like Maryn's great bit on lay vs lie?
 

Bufty

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I have several ago's in dialogue and one in an indirect thought - It seemed ages ago.

I've nothing against the word per se so I guess it depends on how the individual editor considers the word is used, frequency, context, and who is using it - the narrator/POV character.
 

BethS

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I am getting my "ago"s flagged by a line editor who prefers "previously" if it is not in dialog.
Is there a thread on this? something like Maryn's great bit on lay vs lie?

Can you post an example? Is it a case of something like, "Three weeks ago..." vs "Three weeks previously..."? It does depend on the voice of your narrating character, as well as the narrative distance. A first-person or close third-person narrator would probably use "ago." A more distant or omnisicent narrator might use "previously." But it's very much context-dependent; there's no single rule saying do it or don't do it.
 

Maryn

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It's a legit word. Can you give us the examples your editor flagged, and tell us whether ago is more fitted to the character whose dialogue is it, or the narrator's voice?

I mean, in the voice I use here, previously seems terribly stilted, not to mention the obvious difference in meaning. Maryn posted the Lay-Lie thread some time ago suggests it's been a good long while since I posted it. Maryn posted the Lay-Lie thread some time previously could mean yesterday afternoon.

Sure, sometimes it can and maybe should be replaced by previously, depending on exact usage within the sentence, but every time? Sounds like it could be the editor's eccentric pet peeve.

Maryn, who thought about this previously, but that was some time ago
 

Roxxsmom

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Why would an editor have a problem with the use of this expression in fiction? Even regarding colloquial words, ("ago" is listed as a word in the American Heritage dictionary, however, so it is a legit word), modern fiction tends to be narrated the way people speak. As Beth already said, it's really about narrative distance and the voice/formality of your narrator.

I think you can safely ignore this advice.

Looking at your OP again, I am not sure if you are referring to a human editor or to an editing program. The latter make lots of errors and tend to assume everyone is writing formal, academic prose. They're not terribly useful for fiction, unless you take their advice with a heaping teaspoon of salt.
 
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Bufty

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I took the 'line editor who' to mean it was a human editor.

Why would an editor have a problem with the use of this expression in fiction? Even regarding colloquial words, ("ago" is listed as a word in the American Heritage dictionary, however, so it is a legit word), modern fiction tends to be narrated the way people speak. As Beth already said, it's really about narrative distance and the voice/formality of your narrator.

I think you can safely ignore this advice.

Looking at your OP again, I am not sure if you are referring to a human editor or to an editing program. The latter make lots of errors and tend to assume everyone is writing formal, academic prose. They're not terribly useful for fiction, unless you take their advice with a heaping teaspoon of salt.
 

neandermagnon

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What tense are you writing in? If you're writing in past tense then "ago" may be incorrect. For example:

Last week I started a new job. Two weeks ago I met Jane. <--- this implies you met Jane a week before the new job (two weeks ago means two weeks before now, not two weeks before the time referred to in the previous sentence)

Last week I started a new job. Two weeks previously I met Jane. <--- this implies you met Jane two weeks before the new job (two weeks previously means two weeks before the time referred to in the previous sentence)

So if you are using "x weeks/days/etc ago" to mean x weeks/days etc before the events in the story, that would be why it's being flagged.

Disclaimer: I'm British. I don't know if this usage is the same in American English.
 
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angeliz2k

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I *think* I understand what's happening.

I think temporal markers like "yesterday" and "today" and "ago" only belong in exposition in first-person present (dialogue is another kettle of fish, of course). Otherwise, I don't think you should use markers that tie to "now".

For instance, in first-person present, I could say: "I ate breakfast two hours ago." [Which, by the by, is true!)

But in first-person past tense, I would say, "I'd eaten breakfast two hours earlier." [not ago]

In third person present and past, I would say, "She'd eaten breakfast two hours earlier," because in both cases you're talking about the past, whether it's in relation to "the present" or "the past". You have to use pluperfect to show that it isn't happening in the time frame of the main action.

It jives with how you'd talk about it in real life. Right now, I can say, "I ate breakfast two hours ago." But if I am writing about this post tomorrow, I couldn't say that. I would say, "I wrote a post on AW. I'd eaten breakfast two hours earlier."

It can be complicated, and it's something I see writers struggle with a lot. I struggle with it from time to time myself.
 

Trevor Bruhn

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Many thanks to all you responders. This was my draft:
"She'd divorced him a few years ago to take a younger and more pliant man...."
Editor: strike ago, insert "She'd divorced him a few years previously to take a younger..." Ago means from right now, which generally doesn't work in past tense except in dialogue
 

Bufty

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The suggestion makes sense to me.
 

Sonya Heaney

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Many thanks to all you responders. This was my draft:
"She'd divorced him a few years ago to take a younger and more pliant man...."
Editor: strike ago, insert "She'd divorced him a few years previously to take a younger..." Ago means from right now, which generally doesn't work in past tense except in dialogue


The suggestion makes sense, but it would never occur to me to use "previously" like that. I'd have said "earlier", but then that's probably also incorrect!
 

Woollybear

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Like Bufty, I use it in indirect thought, as a way to close the narrative distance, along with expressions like (written on the fly):

'From here, it would be at least three miles.'
'Now, he couldn't remember what he'd ever seen in her.'
'Sure, they could try to build a catapult, but did Bob really think it would work?'

To me, 'ago' has the same colloquial feel and tightens up the narrative distance much more tidily than 'previously.' But I'd use one or the other, depending on the purpose of the sentence.
 
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