Is Editing Writing?

Page by page I am again going through "The Pumpkin Project" even though the writing has been gone over several times. This time the pictures, tables and page numbers are the targets. Each page is listed so I will have a list of those pictures and other items I need to complete the book. The list will also correct the Table of Contents.
Such editing is essential to complete a book. Mistakes do slip by from time to time but most get caught by a careful edit. A sloppy edit can sink a new book for potential readers.
But is editing writing?
Rewrites can be. A piece can look entirely different, a new piece entirely other than the subject when a rewrite is done. So a rewrite can be writing.
But what about editing?
I tweak a word here and there. I may add a sentence or change one. But I am not writing anything new.
So I don't think editing is writing, only a necessary adjunct to writing.
Perhaps that is why editing can feel so stifling and plodding.
I long for the freedom to write. A story is distracting my brain. Yet, if I start writing, can I continue to plod faithfully along on "The Pumpkin Project" edit?