diff --git a/include/notcurses/notcurses.h b/include/notcurses/notcurses.h
index f92050479..2f5642eb1 100644
--- a/include/notcurses/notcurses.h
+++ b/include/notcurses/notcurses.h
@@ -1531,7 +1531,9 @@ ncplane_printf_stainable(struct ncplane* n, const char* format, ...){
 // to '*bytes' if it is not NULL. Cleared columns are included in the return
 // value, but *not* included in the number of bytes written. Leaves the cursor
 // at the end of output. A partial write will be accomplished as far as it can;
-// determine whether the write completed by inspecting '*bytes'.
+// determine whether the write completed by inspecting '*bytes'. Can output to
+// multiple rows even in the absence of scrolling, but not more rows than are
+// available. With scrolling enabled, arbitrary amounts of data can be emitted.
 API int ncplane_puttext(struct ncplane* n, int y, ncalign_e align,
                         const char* text, size_t* bytes);
 
diff --git a/src/demo/zoo.c b/src/demo/zoo.c
index 0e38a55d1..e3cfc44ca 100644
--- a/src/demo/zoo.c
+++ b/src/demo/zoo.c
@@ -265,7 +265,6 @@ typedef struct read_marshal {
 
 static void*
 reader_thread(void* vmarsh){
-  // FIXME use ncplane_puttext() to handle word breaking; this is ugly
   const char text[] =
     "Notcurses provides several widgets to quickly build vivid TUIs.\n\n"
     "This NCReader widget facilitates free-form text entry complete with readline-style bindings. "
@@ -291,9 +290,9 @@ reader_thread(void* vmarsh){
   timespec_div(&demodelay, (y - targrow) / 3, &rowdelay);
   // we usually won't be done rendering the text before reaching our target row
   size_t textpos = 0;
-  const int TOWRITEMAX = 4; // FIXME throw in some jitter!
   int ret;
-  while(y > targrow){
+  const int MAXTOWRITE = 8;
+  while(textpos < textlen || y > targrow){
     pthread_mutex_lock(lock);
       if( (ret = demo_render(nc)) ){
         pthread_mutex_unlock(lock);
@@ -303,34 +302,22 @@ reader_thread(void* vmarsh){
           return THREAD_RETURN_POSITIVE;
         }
       }
-      ncplane_move_yx(rplane, --y, x);
-      size_t towrite = textlen - textpos;
-      if(towrite > TOWRITEMAX){
-        towrite = TOWRITEMAX;
+      if(y > targrow){
+        --y;
       }
-      if(towrite){
-        ncplane_putnstr(rplane, towrite, text + textpos);
-        textpos += towrite;
+      ncplane_move_yx(rplane, y, x);
+      size_t towrite = strcspn(text + textpos, " \t\n") + 1;
+      if(towrite > MAXTOWRITE){
+        towrite = MAXTOWRITE;
       }
-    pthread_mutex_unlock(lock);
-    clock_nanosleep(CLOCK_MONOTONIC, 0, &rowdelay, NULL);
-  }
-  while(textpos < textlen){
-    pthread_mutex_lock(lock);
-      if( (ret = demo_render(nc)) ){
-        pthread_mutex_unlock(lock);
-        if(ret < 0){
+      if(towrite){
+        char* duped = strndup(text + textpos, towrite);
+        size_t bytes;
+        if(ncplane_puttext(rplane, -1, NCALIGN_LEFT, duped, &bytes) < 0 || bytes != strlen(duped)){
+          free(duped);
           return THREAD_RETURN_NEGATIVE;
-        }else if(ret > 0){
-          return THREAD_RETURN_POSITIVE;
         }
-      }
-      size_t towrite = textlen - textpos;
-      if(towrite > TOWRITEMAX){
-        towrite = TOWRITEMAX;
-      }
-      if(towrite){
-        ncplane_putnstr(rplane, towrite, text + textpos);
+        free(duped);
         textpos += towrite;
       }
     pthread_mutex_unlock(lock);
diff --git a/src/lib/notcurses.c b/src/lib/notcurses.c
index 34ca2581a..a239a5af3 100644
--- a/src/lib/notcurses.c
+++ b/src/lib/notcurses.c
@@ -1417,7 +1417,7 @@ int ncplane_putegc_yx(ncplane* n, int y, int x, const char* gclust, int* sbytes)
   bool wide = cols > 1;
   if(x == -1 && y == -1 && n->x + wide >= n->lenx){
     if(!n->scrolling){
-      logerror(n->nc, "No room to output [%s]\n", gclust);
+      logerror(n->nc, "No room to output [%s] %d/%d\n", gclust, n->y, n->x);
       return -1;
     }
     scroll_down(n);
@@ -1713,8 +1713,66 @@ overlong_word(const char* text, int dimx){
   return false;
 }
 
+// Determine if we need to drop down to the next line before trying to print
+// anything. We do if both (1) there is not enough room to print an entire word
+// on the line, and (2) we did not start on the left-hand side. If #2 is not
+// true, it's just a very long word, and we print the portion we can. Performs
+// the move, if it is determined to be necessary.
+static int
+puttext_premove(ncplane* n, const char* text){
+//fprintf(stderr, "CHECKING %d/%d %s\n", n->y, n->x, text);
+  if(n->x == 0){ // never move down when starting on the left hand origin
+    return 0;
+  }
+  const char* breaker = NULL; // where the last wordbreaker starts
+  if(n->x > 0 && n->x < n->lenx){
+    int x = n->x;
+    const char* beginning = text;
+    while(*text && x <= ncplane_dim_x(n)){
+      mbstate_t mbstate = {};
+      wchar_t w;
+      size_t consumed = mbrtowc(&w, text, MB_CUR_MAX, &mbstate);
+      if(consumed == (size_t)-2 || consumed == (size_t)-1){
+        logerror(n->nc, "Invalid UTF-8 after %zu bytes\n", text - beginning);
+        return -1;
+      }
+      if(iswordbreak(w)){
+  //fprintf(stderr, "wordbreak [%lc] at %d\n", w, x);
+        if(x == n->x){
+          text += consumed;
+          continue; // don't emit leading whitespace, or count it
+        }else{
+          return 0;
+        }
+      }
+      int width = wcwidth(w);
+  //fprintf(stderr, "have char %lc (%d) (%zu)\n", w, width, text - linestart);
+      if(width < 0){
+        width = 0;
+      }
+      if(x + width > n->lenx){
+        break;
+      }
+      x += width;
+      text += consumed;
+    }
+  }
+  if(*text && breaker == NULL){
+//fprintf(stderr, "ADVANCING DA FOKKER, JA\n");
+    if(n->scrolling){
+      scroll_down(n);
+    }else{
+      return ncplane_cursor_move_yx(n, n->y + 1, 0);
+    }
+  }
+  return 0;
+}
+
 // FIXME probably best to use u8_wordbreaks() and get all wordbreaks at once...
 int ncplane_puttext(ncplane* n, int y, ncalign_e align, const char* text, size_t* bytes){
+  if(bytes){
+    *bytes = 0;
+  }
   int totalcols = 0;
   // save the beginning for diagnostic
   const char* beginning = text;
@@ -1725,8 +1783,19 @@ int ncplane_puttext(ncplane* n, int y, ncalign_e align, const char* text, size_t
   const int dimx = ncplane_dim_x(n);
   const int dimy = ncplane_dim_y(n);
   const char* linestart = text;
-  int x = 0; // number of columns consumed for this line
+  // if we're using NCALIGN_LEFT, we'll be printing with x==-1, i.e. wherever
+  // the cursor is. if there's insufficient room to print anything, we need to
+  // try moving to the next line first. FIXME this ought actually apply to all
+  // alignments, which ought be taken relative to n->x. no change for
+  // NCALIGN_RIGHT, but NCALIGN_CENTER needs explicitly handle it...
   do{
+    //if(align == NCALIGN_LEFT){
+      if(puttext_premove(n, text)){
+        return -1;
+      }
+    //}
+//fprintf(stderr, "**************STARTING AT %d/%d of %d/%d\n", n->y, n->x, n->leny, n->lenx);
+    int x = n->x; // number of columns consumed for this line
     const char* breaker = NULL; // where the last wordbreaker starts
     int breakercol = 0; // column of the last wordbreaker
     // figure how much text to output on this line
@@ -1747,8 +1816,8 @@ int ncplane_puttext(ncplane* n, int y, ncalign_e align, const char* text, size_t
         }
         return -1;
       }
-//fprintf(stderr, "have possible wordbreak %lc\n", w);
       if(iswordbreak(w)){
+//fprintf(stderr, "wordbreak [%lc] at %d\n", w, x);
         if(x == 0){
           text += consumed;
           linestart = text;
@@ -1769,7 +1838,7 @@ int ncplane_puttext(ncplane* n, int y, ncalign_e align, const char* text, size_t
       x += width;
       text += consumed;
     }
-//fprintf(stderr, "OUT! %s %zu %d\n", linestart, text - linestart, x);
+//fprintf(stderr, "%d/%d OUT! %s %zu %d\n", n->y, n->x, linestart, text - linestart, x);
     bool overlong = false; // ugh
     // if we have no breaker, we got a single word that was longer than our
     // line. print what we can and move along. if *text is nul, we're done.
@@ -1796,7 +1865,7 @@ int ncplane_puttext(ncplane* n, int y, ncalign_e align, const char* text, size_t
 //fprintf(stderr, "exited at %d (%d) %zu looking at [%.*s]\n", x, dimx, breaker - linestart, (int)(breaker - linestart), linestart);
     if(breaker != linestart){
       totalcols += breakercol;
-      const int xpos = ncplane_align(n, align, breakercol);
+      const int xpos = (align == NCALIGN_LEFT) ? -1 : ncplane_align(n, align, breakercol);
       // blows out if we supply a y beyond leny
 //fprintf(stderr, "y: %d %ld %.*s\n", y, breaker - linestart, (int)(breaker - linestart), linestart);
       if(ncplane_putnstr_yx(n, y, xpos, breaker - linestart, linestart) <= 0){
@@ -1826,6 +1895,7 @@ int ncplane_puttext(ncplane* n, int y, ncalign_e align, const char* text, size_t
         y = -1;
       }
     }
+//fprintf(stderr, "new cursor: %d/%d\n", n->y, n->x);
 //fprintf(stderr, "LOOKING AT: [%c] [%s]\n", *text, linestart);
   }while(*text);
   if(bytes){
diff --git a/tests/layout.cpp b/tests/layout.cpp
index e420e10ed..88a36ac5c 100644
--- a/tests/layout.cpp
+++ b/tests/layout.cpp
@@ -284,6 +284,80 @@ TEST_CASE("TextLayout") {
     ncplane_destroy(sp);
   }
 
+  SUBCASE("LayoutLongLines") {
+    // straight from the zoo demo, which didn't work at first
+    const int READER_COLS = 71; // equal to longest line
+    const int READER_ROWS = 4;
+    const char text[] =
+      "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Proin ornare "
+      "neque ac ipsum viverra, vestibulum hendrerit leo consequat. Integer "
+      "velit, pharetra sed nisl quis, porttitor ornare purus. Cras ac "
+      "sollicitudin dolor, eget elementum dolor. Quisque lobortis sagittis.";
+    auto sp = ncplane_new(nc_, READER_ROWS, READER_COLS, 0, 0, nullptr);
+    REQUIRE(sp);
+    size_t bytes;
+    ncplane_home(sp);
+    CHECK(0 < ncplane_puttext(sp, 0, NCALIGN_LEFT, text, &bytes));
+    CHECK(bytes == strlen(text));
+    CHECK(0 == notcurses_render(nc_));
+    char* line = ncplane_contents(sp, 0, 0, -1, -1);
+    REQUIRE(line);
+    // FIXME check line
+    free(line);
+    ncplane_destroy(sp);
+  }
+
+  SUBCASE("LayoutZooText") {
+    // straight from the zoo demo, which didn't work at first
+    const int READER_COLS = 64;
+    const int READER_ROWS = 8;
+    const char text[] =
+      "Notcurses provides several widgets to quickly build vivid TUIs.\n\n"
+      "This NCReader widget facilitates free-form text entry complete with readline-style bindings. " "NCSelector allows a single option to be selected from a list. " "NCMultiselector allows 0..n options to be selected from a list of n items. "
+      "NCFdplane streams a file descriptor, while NCSubproc spawns a subprocess and streams its output. "
+      "A variety of plots are supported, and menus can be placed along the top and/or bottom of any plane.\n\n"
+      "Widgets can be controlled with the keyboard and/or mouse. They are implemented atop ncplanes, and these planes can be manipulated like all others.";
+    auto sp = ncplane_new(nc_, READER_ROWS, READER_COLS, 0, 0, nullptr);
+    REQUIRE(sp);
+    ncplane_set_scrolling(sp, true);
+    size_t bytes;
+    ncplane_home(sp);
+    CHECK(0 < ncplane_puttext(sp, 0, NCALIGN_LEFT, text, &bytes));
+    CHECK(bytes == strlen(text));
+    CHECK(0 == notcurses_render(nc_));
+    char* line = ncplane_contents(sp, 0, 0, -1, -1);
+    REQUIRE(line);
+    // FIXME check line
+    free(line);
+    ncplane_destroy(sp);
+  }
+
+  SUBCASE("LayoutZooTextNoScroll") {
+    // straight from the zoo demo, which didn't work at first
+    const int READER_COLS = 64;
+    const int READER_ROWS = 15;
+    const char text[] =
+      "Notcurses provides several widgets to quickly build vivid TUIs.\n\n"
+      "This NCReader widget facilitates free-form text entry complete with readline-style bindings. "
+      "NCSelector allows a single option to be selected from a list. "
+      "NCMultiselector allows 0..n options to be selected from a list of n items. "
+      "NCFdplane streams a file descriptor, while NCSubproc spawns a subprocess and streams its output. "
+      "A variety of plots are supported, and menus can be placed along the top and/or bottom of any plane.\n\n"
+      "Widgets can be controlled with the keyboard and/or mouse. They are implemented atop ncplanes, and these planes can be manipulated like all others.";
+    auto sp = ncplane_new(nc_, READER_ROWS, READER_COLS, 0, 0, nullptr);
+    REQUIRE(sp);
+    size_t bytes;
+    ncplane_home(sp);
+    CHECK(0 < ncplane_puttext(sp, 0, NCALIGN_LEFT, text, &bytes));
+    CHECK(bytes == strlen(text));
+    CHECK(0 == notcurses_render(nc_));
+    char* line = ncplane_contents(sp, 0, 0, -1, -1);
+    REQUIRE(line);
+    // FIXME check line
+    free(line);
+    ncplane_destroy(sp);
+  }
+
   CHECK(0 == notcurses_stop(nc_));
 
 }