Music and Writing?

So, how do you write? Do you listen to music while you write? Does it help you to think? Or do you get ideas from songs you've heard?

Me, I can't listen to music while I'm writing. I will start writing down the lyrics if I try. And, even if it's orchestral or classical music, I get distracted by it. White noise (such as the sound of my fan and my AC going full blast) is okay. Anything more structured than that, though, and my mind latches on to it. I can't even bear to have people talking in the background (which drives my room-mate crazy because I'll close the door to the computer room if he's on the phone while I'm writing which means I get all of the delicious AC to myself while he sweats to death in another room). However, I do often find myself listening to music to get through difficult chapters or writer's block. Often, I can see parts of my story or even the entire thing in general being set to particular songs.

At the moment, I'm on a nostalgia kick with my music so my song list includes Led Zeppelin (yeah, Stairway to Heaven is on there), Blue Oyster Cult (Don't Fear the Reaper), Sarah McLachlan
 (seriously, don't judge me when I'm all melancholy), Iron Butterfly (again, don't judge), Pink Floyd, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. When I get to a part that I'm having trouble writing, I'll often pop my headphones on and listen to a few songs, just letting the words and the melody help me work through the block. Yesterday, while listening to Building A Mystery, I managed to come up with a way to bridge two parts of my story that was better than what I had in my outline.

So, how about you? Is music a hindrance or a help to your writing?

-- G.K.