Sveta writes in:
Over the last several weeks I’ve been outlining a sci-fi/thriller piece, and had the hardest time keeping all the information organized. I used Scrivener, then I used the index cards in Final Draft, then I used actual index cards… but there was always too much loose information floating around. I couldn’t find a good way to stay organized.
Finally, I decided to try a private wiki. And it’s been amazing. The home page is a plot synopsis with acts as headings–and links to a character page when they are mentioned. There are also links to past events, organizations of importance, fictional technologies, etc. Character pages have headings like “Early Life”, “Relationship with xyz”, and in standard wiki style, are interlinked. I also have a tab of snippets, with pages for loose notes, dialogue and ideas I’m not sure I’m going to use yet.
Nothing is overkill if it helps. The only danger I see is that you can spend so much time getting the wiki just right that you never actually write the movie.
I haven’t used it in years, but I remember loving VoodooPad for the Mac, which makes for a fast and nimble single-user wiki.
We’re using an industrial-strength MediaWiki for the bible on a very complicated project that involves a number of specialists. It’s been a good way to keep people on the same page over the 15+ months we’ve been in development and production.