diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 17be340..0000000
--- a/index.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,78 +0,0 @@
-const figlet = require("figlet");
-const express = require("express");
-
-const app = express();
-const port = 3000;
-
-const defaultFontOptions = {
-  font: "Larry 3D",
-  horizontalLayout: "default",
-  verticalLayout: "default",
-  width: 80,
-  whitespaceBreak: true,
-};
-
-function generateLarryMessage(message) {
-  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
-    figlet.text(
-      message,
-      {
-        ...defaultFontOptions,
-      },
-      (err, data) => {
-        if (err) {
-          console.error("error from figlet:", error);
-          return reject(err);
-        }
-
-        resolve(data.replaceAll("L", "_"));
-      }
-    );
-  });
-}
-
-function generateCatOutput(ascii) {
-  return `#!/bin/bash
-cat << 'EOF'
-
-${ascii}
-
-EOF
-`;
-}
-
-const asciiFontController = (req, res) => {
-  const { message } = req.query;
-  console.log(`generating ascii for: ${message}`);
-
-  return generateLarryMessage(message)
-    .then((ascii) => res.send(ascii))
-    .catch((error) =>
-      res.status(500).send({
-        success: false,
-        message: "Unexpected error from font generation",
-      })
-    );
-};
-
-const modtFontController = (req, res) => {
-  const { message } = req.query;
-  console.log(`generating motd for: ${message}`);
-
-  return generateLarryMessage(message)
-    .then((ascii) => generateCatOutput(ascii))
-    .then((motd) => res.send(motd))
-    .catch((error) => {
-      return res.status(500).send({
-        success: false,
-        message: "Unexpected error from font generation",
-      });
-    });
-};
-
-app.get("/ascii", asciiFontController);
-app.get("/motd", modtFontController);
-
-app.listen(port, () => {
-  console.log(`Font generation application listening on port ${port}.`);
-});
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index a14d126..fb442c6 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
 {
+  "scripts": {
+    "start": "node src/app.js"
+  },
   "dependencies": {
     "express": "^4.18.2",
     "figlet": "^1.5.2"
diff --git a/src/app.js b/src/app.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..742850a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/app.js
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+const express = require("express");
+
+const asciiFontController = require("./controllers/asciiController.js");
+const modtFontController = require("./controllers/motdController.js");
+const requiredQueryMiddleware = require("./requiredQueryMiddleware");
+
+const app = express();
+const port = 3000;
+
+app.get("/ascii", requiredQueryMiddleware, asciiFontController);
+app.get("/motd", requiredQueryMiddleware, modtFontController);
+
+app.listen(port, () => {
+  console.log(`Font generation application listening on port ${port}.`);
+});
diff --git a/src/ascii.js b/src/ascii.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f6365f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ascii.js
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+const figlet = require("figlet");
+
+const defaultFontOptions = {
+  font: "Larry 3D",
+  horizontalLayout: "default",
+  verticalLayout: "default",
+  width: 80,
+  whitespaceBreak: true,
+};
+
+function generateAscii(message, options) {
+  const _options = {
+    ...defaultFontOptions,
+    ...options,
+  };
+
+  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    figlet.text(message, _options, (err, data) => {
+      if (err) {
+        console.error("error from figlet:", error);
+        return reject(err);
+      }
+
+      if (_options.font === "Larry 3D") {
+        data = data.replaceAll("L", "_");
+      }
+
+      resolve(data);
+    });
+  });
+}
+
+module.exports = generateAscii;
diff --git a/src/controllers/asciiController.js b/src/controllers/asciiController.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fd3c8b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/controllers/asciiController.js
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+const generateAscii = require("../ascii.js");
+
+const asciiFontController = (req, res) => {
+  const { text } = req.query;
+
+  return generateAscii(text)
+    .then((ascii) => res.send(ascii))
+    .catch((error) =>
+      res.status(error?.statusCode || 500).send({
+        success: false,
+        message: error?.message || "Unexpected error from font generation",
+      })
+    );
+};
+
+module.exports = asciiFontController;
diff --git a/src/controllers/motdController.js b/src/controllers/motdController.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cf40cb3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/controllers/motdController.js
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+const generateAscii = require("../ascii.js");
+
+const modtFontController = (req, res) => {
+  const { text } = req.query;
+
+  return generateAscii(message)
+    .then((ascii) => generateCatOutput(ascii))
+    .then((motd) => res.send(motd))
+    .catch((error) => {
+      return res.status(500).send({
+        success: false,
+        message: "Unexpected error from font generation",
+      });
+    });
+};
+
+module.exports = modtFontController;
diff --git a/src/errors.js b/src/errors.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1817566
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/errors.js
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+class MissingTextError extends Error {
+  constructor(error = null) {
+    const message = `Missing query parameter 'text'`;
+    super(message);
+
+    this.error = error;
+    this.statusCode = 400;
+  }
+}
+
+module.exports = {
+  MissingTextError,
+};
diff --git a/src/requiredQueryMiddleware.js b/src/requiredQueryMiddleware.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..92695f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/requiredQueryMiddleware.js
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+const { MissingTextError } = require("./errors.js");
+
+const requiredQueryMiddleware = (req, res, next) => {
+  const { text } = req.query;
+
+  if (!text || text?.length === 0) {
+    const error = new MissingTextError();
+    return res.status(error?.statusCode || 500).send(error?.message);
+  }
+
+  next();
+};
+
+module.exports = requiredQueryMiddleware;