Link - using a wiki to outline a screenplay

I was really excited over the weekend to read an article by John August on using a wiki to outline a screenplay. What a great idea!

Having done some contracted writing myself, I can testify to the fact that organising the outline & structure can be a real pain, and a wiki would be a great tool to simplify the process:

"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."

Awesome! I think the combination of Markdown + Dropbox would be a great tool for writers, because the text-based nature of the writing process affords a distraction-free writing environment, especially when using dedicated editors like Byword with a minimalist fullscreen mode.

Screenplay Markdown - SPMD

What’s even more exciting is the possibility of adding SPMD support to WikiPack. Now, I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up just yet; implementing a new subset of Markdown isn’t on the cards for WikiPack at the moment, but Brett Terpstra has been able to add SPMD support to Marked already, so in theory you could start using WikiPack to organise your SPMD pages, and Marked to render them. I’m not a screenwriter, but if you are, I’d love to hear how you go with combining SPMD + Markded + WikiPack.

I love reading about exciting new uses for personal wikis!

Give WikiPack a try at http://wikipackit.com