diff --git a/Doc/library/curses.rst b/Doc/library/curses.rst
index b36b9d73e35..5ea246b83fe 100644
--- a/Doc/library/curses.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/curses.rst
@@ -663,6 +663,12 @@ the following methods:
    character previously painter at that location.  By default, the character
    position and attributes are the current settings for the window object.
 
+   .. note::
+
+      Writing outside the window, subwindow, or pad raises a :exc:`curses.error`.
+      Attempting to write to the lower right corner of a window, subwindow,
+      or pad will cause an exception to be raised after the character is printed.
+
 
 .. method:: window.addnstr(str, n[, attr])
             window.addnstr(y, x, str, n[, attr])
@@ -677,6 +683,12 @@ the following methods:
    Paint the string *str* at ``(y, x)`` with attributes *attr*, overwriting
    anything previously on the display.
 
+   .. note::
+
+      Writing outside the window, subwindow, or pad raises :exc:`curses.error`.
+      Attempting to write to the lower right corner of a window, subwindow,
+      or pad will cause an exception to be raised after the string is printed.
+
 
 .. method:: window.attroff(attr)
 
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Documentation/2018-01-13-20-30-53.bpo-8243.s98r28.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Documentation/2018-01-13-20-30-53.bpo-8243.s98r28.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a3520d05c09
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Documentation/2018-01-13-20-30-53.bpo-8243.s98r28.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Add a note about curses.addch and curses.addstr exception behavior when
+writing outside a window, or pad.