diff --git a/fcore/buffer.sml b/fcore/buffer.sml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..61cd986
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fcore/buffer.sml
@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+structure Buffer =
+struct
+  (* builds text from a string with char-wrap.
+   * char-wrap is a similar concept to word-wrap, 
+   * but it breaks on character in the middle of a word.
+   * Todo: 
+   * - Let caller know which termination case was reached.
+   *   Did we reach the end of the string or did we exhaust the screen space?
+   * - Possibly add visual horizontal indentation when char-wrap occurs
+   *   on an indented line *)
+  fun buildTextString
+    ( pos, str, acc, posX, posY, startX
+    , windowWidth, windowHeight, fWindowWidth, fWindowHeight
+    , r, g, b
+    ) =
+    if pos < String.size str then
+      case String.sub (str, pos) of
+        #" " =>
+          (* if space, then proceed forward one char 
+           * without adding to acc *)
+          buildTextString
+            ( pos + 1, str, acc, posX + 25, posY, startX
+            , windowWidth, windowHeight, fWindowWidth, fWindowHeight
+            , r, g, b
+            )
+      | #"\t" =>
+          (* if tab, proceed forward one char,
+           * and jump visually forwards three chars *)
+          buildTextString
+            ( pos + 1, str, acc, posX + 75, posY, startX
+            , windowWidth, windowHeight, fWindowWidth, fWindowHeight
+            , r, g, b
+            )
+      | #"\n" =>
+          (* if \n, move down vertically, and move to start horizontally
+           * assuming we have not exceeded the window's height.
+           * If we have exceeded the window's height, just return acc. *)
+          if posY + 25 < windowHeight then
+            buildTextString
+              ( pos + 1, str, acc, startX, posY + 25, startX
+              , windowWidth, windowHeight, fWindowWidth, fWindowHeight
+              , r, g, b
+              )
+          else
+            acc
+      | #"\r" =>
+          (* same as \n, except we also check if we are in a \r\n pair,
+           * and proceed two characters forward if so *)
+          if posY + 25 < windowHeight then
+            if
+              pos < String.size str - 1
+              andalso String.sub (str, pos + 1) = #"\n"
+            then
+              buildTextString
+                ( pos + 2, str, acc, startX, posY + 25, startX
+                , windowWidth, windowHeight, fWindowWidth, fWindowHeight
+                , r, g, b
+                )
+            else
+              buildTextString
+                ( pos + 1, str, acc, startX, posY + 25, startX
+                , windowWidth, windowHeight, fWindowWidth, fWindowHeight
+                , r, g, b
+                )
+          else
+            acc
+      | chr =>
+          (* for any other character, add it to acc if there is space,
+           * and proceed forward one character in the string *)
+          let
+            val chrFun = Vector.sub (CozetteAscii.asciiTable, Char.ord chr)
+          in
+            if posX + 25 < windowWidth then
+              (* if there is horizontal space, place char on the right *)
+              let
+                val chrVec = chrFun
+                  (posX, posY, 25.0, 25.0, fWindowWidth, fWindowHeight, r, g, b)
+                val acc = chrVec :: acc
+              in
+                buildTextString
+                  ( pos + 1, str, acc, posX + 25, posY, startX
+                  , windowWidth, windowHeight, fWindowWidth, fWindowHeight
+                  , r, g, b
+                  )
+              end
+            else if posY + 25 < windowHeight then
+              (* if there is vertical space, place char down below at startX *)
+              let
+                val chrVec = chrFun
+                  ( startX, posY + 25, 25.0, 25.0
+                  , fWindowWidth, fWindowHeight
+                  , r, g, b
+                  )
+                val acc = chrVec :: acc
+              in
+                buildTextString
+                  ( pos + 1, str, acc, startX + 25, posY + 25, startX
+                  , windowWidth, windowHeight, fWindowWidth, fWindowHeight
+                  , r, g, b
+                  )
+              end
+            else
+              (* if no space horizontally or vertically, just return *)
+              acc
+          end
+    else
+      acc
+end
diff --git a/shell/gl-draw.sml b/shell/gl-draw.sml
index e05025a..5d637d1 100644
--- a/shell/gl-draw.sml
+++ b/shell/gl-draw.sml
@@ -83,9 +83,28 @@ struct
       ()
 
   fun draw (drawObject: t) =
-    let
-      val _ = drawText drawObject
-    in
-      ()
+    let val _ = drawText drawObject
+    in ()
+    end
+
+  fun helpLoop (shellState as {window, ...}: t) =
+    case Glfw.windowShouldClose window of
+      false =>
+        let
+          val _ = Gles3.clearColor (0.1, 0.1, 0.1, 0.1)
+          val _ = Gles3.clear ()
+
+          val _ = draw shellState
+
+          val _ = Glfw.swapBuffers window
+          val _ = Glfw.waitEvents ()
+        in
+          helpLoop shellState
+        end
+    | true => Glfw.terminate ()
+
+  fun loop window =
+    let val shellState = create window
+    in helpLoop shellState
     end
 end
diff --git a/shell/shell.sml b/shell/shell.sml
index 8f60106..bf8d67d 100644
--- a/shell/shell.sml
+++ b/shell/shell.sml
@@ -2,20 +2,6 @@ structure Shell =
 struct
   open CML
 
-  fun loop window =
-    case Glfw.windowShouldClose window of
-      false =>
-        let
-          val _ = Gles3.clearColor (0.1, 0.1, 0.1, 0.1)
-          val _ = Gles3.clear ()
-
-          val _ = Glfw.swapBuffers window
-          val _ = Glfw.waitEvents ()
-        in
-          loop window
-        end
-    | true => Glfw.terminate ()
-
   fun main () =
     let
       (* Set up GLFW. *)
@@ -26,8 +12,10 @@ struct
       val window = Glfw.createWindow (1600, 900, "shf")
       val _ = Glfw.makeContextCurrent window
       val _ = Gles3.loadGlad ()
+
+      val _ = GlDraw.loop window
     in
-      loop window
+      ()
     end
 end
 
diff --git a/shf b/shf
index b9bba34..e008281 100755
Binary files a/shf and b/shf differ
diff --git a/shf.mlb b/shf.mlb
index 511007c..4f8b375 100644
--- a/shf.mlb
+++ b/shf.mlb
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
 $(SML_LIB)/basis/basis.mlb
 
-(* FUNCTIONAL CORE *)
+(* LIBRARIEES *)
 lib/brolib-sml/src/line_gap.sml
 lib/cozette-sml/fonts/cozette-ascii.mlb
 
+(* FUNCTIONAL CORE *)
+fcore/buffer.sml
+
 (* IMPERATIVE SHELL *)
 $(SML_LIB)/basis/mlton.mlb
 $(SML_LIB)/cml/cml.mlb