Backing up will save you, but if the materials are private, it will do nothing to keep them that way. If an iBook gets stolen, there's really very little you can do to keep the information private.
Personally, I think it depends on how private it is. If you are really super paranoid, don't bring it with you. If you are just a little paranoid, make an encrypted disk image in Disk Utility. That should keep it away from idle hands. If you're somewhere in between, hide your disk image somewhere where nobody will find it, and in something a thief would most likely trash. Perhaps a kids game. Put your disk image inside the game package, then rename your image ".DS_Store ". That should pretty much hide it from anyone who doesn't know it is there. The average thief will either be selling the computer or using it themselves... they won't be looking for anything suspicious on the computer. More advanced thieves may search through for credit information, but this should still end up out of sight for them. Super advanced hollywood-style techno thieves may find it, but they a) wouldn't be interested in screenplays and b) don't exist. And if they do, they aren't raiding random recording studios for iBooks.
Your data is precious to you, but probably not for a thief. If you have an awesome, marketable play sitting right in your ~/Documents folder, then you might lose it. Other than that, I think chances are low. Hide it someplace rather remote and you'll be fine.
There also might be 3rd party tools that can help you out. Upgrading to Panther to get FileVault might be good, too, if you are super paranoid.
Remember, the normal login password will do no good if a thief has physical access to your machine for any length of time. It all really depends on how worried you are. What are the chances of it getting stolen, how valuable is your work (to other people), how badly do you want to bring your iBook to work, and what lengths are you willing to go to for security?
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