In my experience: In small(ish) doses it can. Too much and I can't concentrate and nothing gets done. But a couple of drinks over dinner seems to often be enough to let me relax back into the story. I seem to write faster and be less easily distracted (by this forum for example
). But then I mostly only write at night, I don't think I'd like to become dependent on such stimulus, especially if I ever had the chance to become a full-time writer.