{"id":7580,"date":"2020-06-05T13:00:19","date_gmt":"2020-06-05T20:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7580"},"modified":"2020-05-27T12:24:13","modified_gmt":"2020-05-27T19:24:13","slug":"mark-watches-jane-the-virgin-s01e16-chapter-sixteen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2020\/06\/mark-watches-jane-the-virgin-s01e16-chapter-sixteen\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Jane the Virgin’: S01E16 – Chapter Sixteen"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the sixteenth episode of the first season of Jane the Virgin<\/i>, Jane experiences writer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s block, which influences her journey with Rafael. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Jane the Virgin<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not often that I get to see a depiction of writing that rings largely as true as this one does. This season has slowly revealed more and more of Jane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interest in being an author and her talent, and I appreciate that, too. It makes me think that maybe there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a much longer story being planned for her, that this is something we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll see over multiple seasons. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Chapter Sixteen\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is much more direct, though, and features a plot that is about<\/i> her writing, while also taking what happens there and extrapolating it to the larger drama of the show. Frankly, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fucking brilliant, and I think the writer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s block metaphor is one of the most clever things the show has done.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let me start first with some of the little stuff: I love the depiction of the writing group. (Complete with the surprise cameo from Jane Seymour!) The show only gently pokes fun at romance, but in the same way it pokes fun at telenovelas: it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s willing to criticize things, yet it always comes from a place of love. And while I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve never been to a romance writing group or workshop like this one, it still felt and looked like what I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been used to over the years. A lot of them are<\/i> much more about building up writers, rather than to act as a more criticism-filled vehicle like college workshops are. Each hold their place, and each has their limitations. I found college workshops to be more soul-crushing, more apt for people to give criticism that offered nothing constructive. Some people in those seemed to get off on being wholly negative of the work of other people. On the other hand, if you were<\/i> looking for serious developmental feedback, or if your work seemed stagnant or had plateaued, then I often found peer workshops\/groups to be lacking in a critical drive. Everyone kind of recommended the same thing (or had similar tastes if said group was based around a particular genre), and matters were even more complicated if everyone in the group was unpublished and had little experience. Obviously, we all wanted to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153make\u00e2\u20ac\u009d it, but sometimes, it actually helps to have someone who has been in the writing industry itself guiding things along. Which is why this group felt so awesome to me! Amanda Elaine was there to help others fulfill their dreams.<\/p>\n

I also loved that the show was honest about writer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s block and gave some genuinely good advice about how to deal with it. My relationship with writer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s block has changed over the years. It tormented in my early twenties, but as I moved more into journalism and blogging\u00e2\u20ac\u201despecially with much tighter deadlines\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI had to develop tools to combat it. The major culprit for me in terms of writer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s block is depicted in glorious full-color in this very episode: I used to write up to something and have no fucking idea where I was actually going. Then, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d obsess over that point until I was convinced I had written myself into a hole, and, more often than not, I would abandon that project.<\/p>\n

I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do that anymore. I have an extensive pre-writing process (a lot of which you can see in this writing lesson I taught for Words Alive, a literacy program in San Diego) that I use so that when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m actually writing a manuscript, I limit the chance of this happening. That doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean it never<\/i> happens again. Oh, how I wish that were true! (Writer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s block is currently making the writing of my fourth novel way too hard.) (Do you know how happy it makes me to be able to type \u00e2\u20ac\u0153fourth novel\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 a real fucking thing that 100% gets to happen some day???) Instead, it means that I think through a story at a macro level. I absolutely have<\/i> to know the ending. Straight-up: I will not start writing a story until I know the ending. I need to know what I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m working towards. Truthfully, I often know the final line or the final image before I know the opening. Openings are a lot harder for me! I also need to know all the major story beats; I figure out characters, their names, their sub-plots, and maybe one or two central themes I want to touch on.<\/p>\n

There is still the magic of writing, though, even though my outlines are so detailed. I discover shit along the way I never could have planned. But it also means that writer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s block still strikes. Which is why I want to address Amanda\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s incredible advice: Often, the problem is further back. I think writer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s block is not just the act of getting stuck; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s our instinct telling us that we know we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve written something preposterous, not that great, flawed\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 you get the idea. And we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re stuck because we know, deep down, that where we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re headed in a story is not what we actually<\/i> want to do. It defies the premise or it contradicts it or it fulfills a trope or archetype we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like. When I think back on some of the major writer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s block episodes I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had in the last five years, each of them were due to the fact that I believed I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d written myself into a place that felt boring, unoriginal, predictable, and stale. And guess what?<\/p>\n

The problem was almost always something further back from the point where the block happened.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, it was a character making a choice that was out-of-character for how I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d written them. Others, it was because a plot twist or choice was unneeded or superfluous or ridiculous. I want you to know that as I was typing these past two sentences, I realized why this new book I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m working on is challenging me! I made a decision that just doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fit with this character\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s journey, so I need to alter a path slightly. Now, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the other aspect of writer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s block that we see in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Chapter Sixteen\u00e2\u20ac\u009d as well: the obsessive nature of it. Because oh boy, have I ever<\/i> obsessed over having this sort of block. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard not to! If you just think<\/i> about it long enough, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll figure it out!<\/p>\n

Sometimes, I do that, but usually that thought process involves free writing to myself rather than talking aloud. But actually? Nowadays, if I hit a block that feels significant, I go do fucking anything else<\/i> that isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t writing. Literally anything else! I play guitar. I play video games. I go for a walk and catch Pok\u00c3\u00a9mon. I call up a friend. Look, the list is endless. What I want to do is jog my mind. I want to refill my energy well and my creative well. I want to stretch other muscles. I do this because I know I already have the wonderful ability to obsess over things HELLO ANXIETY. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to do things to make that part of my brain WORSE, so this is my technique, and it works<\/i>. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t promise it will work for you, but it works for me!<\/p>\n

The show, then, takes this whole idea of writer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s block, and it applies it to the interpersonal conflicts unfolding, and IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S SO BRILLIANT. Jane is dealing with the fallout of her rejecting Rafael\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s proposal, which is one of the reasons why she even focuses on her writing in the first place. I also wonder if that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why Michael\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ex, who he hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seen in three years, suddenly arrives, too. Is his<\/i> problem further back as well?<\/p>\n

Anyway, I have no idea, since that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s revealed so late in the episode. But when it comes to Jane and Rafael, I love that this episode forces Rafael to do some very necessary introspection, especially after Jane finally points out that he has put the entire emotional weight of this proposal on the person who didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do the proposing<\/i>. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, that was such a MOMENT. Because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s true! Rafael was the one who made this decision without consulting anyone. At all! He didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even ask a friend if this was the right move. But, taking from the theme provided by Amanda Elaine, Rafael looks back. I should note that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s because of a subplot that Rafael is also pushing into his epiphany, and that subplot entirely features Petra. For the first time in a long, long while, I believed that there was potential for Petra and Rafael to be friendly to one another. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a short moment here, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? That scene where Rafael asks if he proposed to Petra too early is just\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 nice. And honest. And real. And I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure Petra felt much more conflicted about it, but damn, maybe they both might actually be able to move on?<\/p>\n

Also, just gonna fully admit here that when Petra walked in on Jane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s surprise, the initial spark of a Jane\/Petra ship was ignited, and then it was entirely set aflame when Petra made that face as she was walking out of the penthouse. What the fuck, I did not ask for this, but there it is, GOOD BYE I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122LL BE FINE.<\/p>\n

Anyway, as a whole, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Chapter Sixteen\u00e2\u20ac\u009d felt almost relentlessly uncomfortable. Not only is the post-proposal shit awkward, but the horrible fight that broke out between Alba and Xiomara hangs over the show. That shit didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even get remotely resolved here, and I imagine that Xiomara is also<\/i> going to struggle as she learns to co-habit with Rogelio. Yo, what could it possibly be like to LIVE with Rogelio? I feel like a nightmare is oncoming.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I hope that nightmare doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t reach Jane and Rafael, though. I worried aloud in the video for this that I was watching a genuine wedge develop between Rafael and Jane. Again, this episode highlighted just how very different these two are. Can they overcome these distances in this home stretch? Because Jane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most likely going to give birth by the end of this season, especially with how fast season one has moved. Right now, they continue to find reasons to keep going; they compromise; they clearly love one another.<\/p>\n

But is that enough<\/i>?<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Chapter Sixteen\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– You can now pre-order my second YA novel, Each of Us a Desert<\/i>, which will be released on September 15, 2020 from Tor Teen!<\/a>
\n– Not only that, but my very first pre-order campaign is now live for North American readers! If you submit proof of pre-order, you can get a limited edition print that comes with the book<\/a>.
\n<\/strong>– If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"