Flash of brilliance: Lightning vs. lightening

With a great heaviness in my heart, I must report that some writers often mix up lightning and lightening.

Lightning is the flash of light that accompanies thunder: The lightning lit up the room as if it were daytime.

Lightening, however, is a reduction of weight, either literally or figuratively: The hikers sat against the boulders, lightening the load on their tired feet.

A quick memory tip: lightening has an “e” in it and so is the “heavier” word.

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My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past decade, I’ve helped more than 300 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the 7 Minutes a Day… writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.