"Truncate Large Text fields" using fckeditor doe

Hello
Sorry... the subject line is misleading but I don't think I can change it. After I re-checked, I discovered it was not an issue involving the editor.
I notice that whenever a textarea is defined as HTML the Truncate Large Text Fields option which is set in the Misc page (it limits the number of characters displayed in a column and creates a "more..." link) is disabled. I assume that this is because of the fact that using html inserts a lot more characters.
is there a workaround for this or a suggestion as to how to implement a "more..." link?
Thank you
Andrew