Textarea with Newlines in Workflow Variable

I have a form (lets call it form A) with a Textarea, which commonly contains several paragraphs of text. This textarea is associated with a workflow variable. This workflow variable is edited on other forms and then the flow returns to form A. What's the best way to refresh the textarea on Form A with the latest workflow variable value? The form always has the old value that was originally inputted into the form. So far I've been updating the form via javascript, but when there are newlines in the workflow variable the javascript doesn't work. Suggestions? Help! :)