“I just chose words carefully”(unsung.aresluna.org)
1236 points by zdw 10 days ago | 353 comments
tl;dr: Monospace typesetting makes full justification awkward because spaces can't be evenly distributed and hyphenation looks jarring. In the late 1990s, rs1n wrote a 17,000-word Super Metroid guide with perfectly justified right margins by manually choosing words that fit exactly—no software, no double spaces, just careful word selection in an ASCII editor.
HN Discussion:
  • Similar examples of others using text-layout constraints (Laravel comments, X-Files scripts, top commit messages)
  • Arbitrary constraints can improve writing quality by forcing more thoughtful word choices
  • This concept extends to programming, where symmetric word pairs enable visual alignment
  • Automated/LLM approaches can accomplish the same justification task
  • ~Obsessing over fixed-width layouts can backfire with accessibility features or localization