// Only 5 characters printed. When using %.*s, add a value before your string variable to specify the length.
printf("Here are the first 5 characters: %.*s
", 5, mystr); //5 here refers to # of characters
// Only 5 characters printed
const char * mystr = "This string is definitely longer than what we want to print.";
printf("Here are first 5 chars only: %.5s
", mystr);