Towards

[Xinfu]

-Yeats' story pushed Ash __ this direction.

Is it correct to use towards? It sounds OK to me, but my friend says towards is wrong, and that we say in ... direction, but towards something except direction, so in is the only correct word in the above. What is the correct word there?

[TomerAgmon]

As far as English goes, you say "in a direction", not "towards a direction".

[Rusty]

'Towards' or 'Toward' (regional and individual tastes dictate which one to say) may certainly be used with 'some direction', as in, "They moved toward a direction on the matter." You'll find all kinds of results if you Google 'towards this direction'.

Moving toward a direction simply describes orientation.
Once orientation is established, subsequent movement is described as movement in a direction.

So, whether the story pushed Ash in a direction (movement implied) or whether it caused Ash to favor a direction (orientation implied) is the real question.

It is correct to use 'towards' if you're talking about Ash's orientation.
If conveying movement, switch to 'in'.

[Xinfu]

Originally Posted by Rusty

'Towards' or 'Toward' (regional and individual tastes dictate which one to say) may certainly be used with 'some direction', as in, "They moved toward a direction on the matter." You'll find all kinds of results if you Google 'towards this direction'.

Moving toward a direction simply describes orientation.
Once orientation is established, subsequent movement is described as movement in a direction.

So, whether the story pushed Ash in a direction (movement implied) or whether it caused Ash to favor a direction (orientation implied) is the real question.

It is correct to use 'towards' if you're talking about Ash's orientation.
If conveying movement, switch to 'in'.

Excellent answer. Thank you.

Um... I think you alone are authoritative enough; Google has more sentences by non-natives than by natives.