How to Procrastinate Editing Your Book
On Doing Everything but Getting the Job Done.
I had thought writing the damn book would be hard. Don’t get me wrong, my current book project has been years in the making. I opened the portal back in 2015 with a free write session in my Google Docs, rehashing a moment when everything so important felt so ephemeral; people in my life were coming and going and all I wanted was to wrangle them back in by typing them into existence onto a page that was fixed forever.
My current book with no name takes inspiration from my past but most if not all is fiction. Unlike my first published work, This is a Spill, This is a Spell, my current book was not hard to write. I didn’t have to sort through rubble, search for my inner child, and reach out to give her a hand. I didn’t have to grapple with love found and love lost and mend the heart with the love that I can only give myself. I didn’t have to put myself back together again through every essay. Because writing my last book was a baptism through fire, I had thought this one would be equally unforgiving, but I was wrong.
This current book with no name is funny, or at least I think so. I had no boundaries while writing and allowed myself to type freely, making shit up along the way. No words or feelings held a gun to my head. I dedicated time to play with words and it was liberating. The portal I had opened in 2015 really unraveled and manifested within the last two years and it is by far, the easiest writing project once I gave into it fully. Though substance abuse is at the heart of the book and it’s a tough subject to swallow, the characters make the story a heartfelt one. They kept me engaged throughout the process. Yes, one could say that I’m their creator, but I believe I am nothing more than the medium for which the characters can finally take the stage. Charlie, Theo, Benny, Diego, and Giovanni to name a few made writing this almost 110,000 word count book not only possible but a pleasure. I can’t wait for you all to read it soon enough.
Writing the book with no name was not hard but the editing is. I wrote with the door open, as Stephen King would put it. I wrote without a filter so the characters and their stories could truly breathe, but now I must edit with the door closed. I am line editing and filling gaps and revising plots all of which is hard. It takes time to perfect, cover the cracks, and polish the story. Though I know this process is necessary, it is by far the hardest part about the book writing process. I just want to see the damn thing exist in the world for all to read already, but I know I would be doing a disservice to all and to myself by not at least combing back its hair, so it’s taking me a while.
The hardest things are the things we don’t want to do. It’s the hardest things we procrastinate. I find myself doing everything but editing, though I very much want to finish this project and move on to the next. Here is how I’ve been procrastinating when deep in the weeds of editing my book:
Feed Your Sourdough Starter: If you are a sourdough bread baker then you are familiar with how important it is to have a healthy and active starter. The starter serves as the wild yeast that will ferment your bread and make it rise. An active starter at its peak is the secret to the most delicious bread. If your goal is to bake a sourdough loaf that will amaze, you will feed your sourdough starter flour and water like clockwork once to twice a day even if it’s in the middle of an editing session. If you are not a sourdough bread baker and want to procrastinate editing your book like me, spend time doom scrolling through Breadtok and get yourself a wide mouth jar.
Bake Sourdough Bread: Making sourdough is an arduous process. It can take anywhere between eight to forty-eight hours depending on how hot your kitchen is, how busy your personal schedule is, and whether you like your sourdough more sour or not. Stretch-and-Folds, bulk fermenting, shaping the dough, proofing, and baking is an all day affair. Sure, I can squeeze in editing my book in between each phase but I am bound to get interrupted and my attention is mostly on whether my dough “bounce” back the right way or not.
Water Your Plants: If you don’t have plants, get some. If you do, water them. Feed them. Sing to them. Love them. I am a mother of so many plants and they all get watered every Sunday. One by one, little or big, I bring them to my kitchen sink and water them fully. I feed them fertilizer. I make sure they are drained and not soaking. Then I place them back to where they belong in my home, sometimes changing their location depending if they need more humidity or not. I always lie to myself and say this process will take about 15 minutes, but by the time I am done with watering, pruning, and disinfecting if there’s a bout of spider mites, two hours have gone by. It does not help that I am also listening to the Dirty Dancing soundtrack in the background, dancing along the way. Watering plants is a labor of love and labor taken away from editing my book.
Refill Your Cup: I shouldn’t be drinking anything while editing. My mouth feels pleasure with the constant sip of delicious Bone Broth Matcha and my throat is never satisfied with a continuous flow of water. Instead of staying focused at the keyboard, my right hand takes frequent breaks to reach for a cup, bring it to my lips, then take trips to the kitchen to refill the now empty cup with more liquid. I need to say no and leave the empty cup in the sink instead.
Take a Long Walk with Your Pup: Dogs are living their lives for the first time too. It would be a disservice to have my dog, Gigi, stay in all day, babysitting me while I stare into a screen for hours on end. She could care less if I finish editing my book and if it sold a millions of copies one day. Gigi enjoys her rounds at our nearby park. She runs on the grass and smells the flowers. She says hello to her friends Happy and Vultron. I used to think that the walks were more for her happiness and wellbeing until I realized that the walks were also for me. There is something about being out, taking in fresh air, being around nature that reboots my nervous system and makes me feel at ease. There is a lot to learn from dogs. Taking walk breaks is just one of them.
Get Lost in a Book: If I am too busy reading, I will be too busy to edit. Getting lost in another story makes time pass, especially if it's a good one. I’ve been in my health era lately. For 2025, I traded in fiction for true stories on mental health and nutrition. When I want to learn more, I dive right in, soaking in as much information as I can by reading everything. Instead of editing my book, I’m reading about oxalate overload and the symptoms we have normalized in our bodies, how ketogenic diets can support a healthy mitochondria, and how more fat is the essence to longevity. Everything that I grew up knowing is being dismantled before my eyes and my mind is constantly blown. How could I be expected to edit a book in such conditions?
Chef it Up in the Kitchen: We all need to nourish ourselves, right? How could I possibly edit my book if I’m hungry? One would think that I spend most of my day in front of the computer scribbling in a notebook and they wouldn’t be wrong, but I do enjoy the art of cooking. I am guilty of seeing a dish and thinking “I could make that and I can make it better.” And I do make it and I do make it better. Looking up a recipe I’ve been meaning to try, watching countless Youtube how-tos before getting started, taking trips to the grocery store to gather materials, and finally cheffing it up takes time. With some music, the total process can take anywhere up to six hours. I’m a Taurus through and through.
Go to the Gym: My fingers need to be strong to keep pounding away at the keyboard and strength is made at the gym. Working my upper body, my forearms, biceps, and shoulders will ensure that my next editing game is fire. I put in work weight training three times a week, lifting heavy. A podcast is always on while I’m pumping iron all while my book sits untouched for at least an hour.
Join a Writing a Group: Similar to getting lost in a book, getting lost in a new writing project is always a good idea. Meeting new people, discussing new works and starting new ones is the essence of a writing group. It is the writer’s dream to always be and stay inspired. I am tinkering at four other writing projects simultaneously while also running this substack newsletter. These four projects are all books in the making too, but it is not their time to fully manifest just yet. Constantly dipping into their pots, takes time away from my current book with no name.
Sleep: I cannot think clearly and edit if I am running on zero energy. I choose to save myself and take that much needed nap every time.
Can’t wait for the new book 💞