I don’t work well with music.

Well, not writing, anyway. Or the work at the day job. I can’t listen to music and get a damn thing done. I envy my coworkers, tapping away at their keyboards with their earbuds in, heads bobbing, passing the day in a blur.

I envy Stephanie Myers who can publish a soundtrack for her books (and then take a wheelbarrow of cash to the bank).

And if I have to do work that doesn’t involve my brain much, like cleaning a kitchen or folding laundry or cooking, I’ve got my reggae music blasting in the background and I’m hugely more productive for it. But if I sit down to write….I need to keep my ever-distracted brain on a leash, or it won’t get done.

If I’m listening to music I love, I’ll be singing along. Loudly. I’ll get so wrapped up in the music, I won’t be paying much attention to the task at hand. I lose my train of thought every time a great song swells into its chorus, or that glory note approaches.

Just one of the drawbacks of having a degree in Theatre with a minor in music, at least when it comes to discipline and writing, two words I don’t put together often enough.

Do you listen to music when you write? Do you think it helps you?