A method of writing data, the method comprising: in a data storage device with multiple physical pages including a first physical page and a second physical page, performing: receiving a data page to be stored in the data storage device; initiating an encode operation to encode the data page, wherein the encode operation generates first encoded data; storing a first portion of the first encoded data to the first physical page; and initiating storage of a second portion of the first encoded data to the second physical page; characterised in that: the method further comprises, in the data storage device: sending a message to a host device in response to storing the first portion of the first encoded data, the message indicating that the data page has been successfully stored at the data storage device, and wherein the message is sent prior to completing storage of the second portion of the first encoded data; and initiating a decode operation to recover the data page, wherein the decode operation uses a representation of the first portion of the first encoded data that is read from the first physical page without using any data from the second physical page, wherein the representation matches the first portion of the first encoded data or differs from the first portion of the first encoded data due to the presence of one or more bit errors. in a data storage device with multiple physical pages including a first physical page and a second physical page, performing: receiving a data page to be stored in the data storage device; initiating an encode operation to encode the data page, wherein the encode operation generates first encoded data; storing a first portion of the first encoded data to the first physical page; and initiating storage of a second portion of the first encoded data to the second physical page; receiving a data page to be stored in the data storage device; initiating an encode operation to encode the data page, wherein the encode operation generates first encoded data; storing a first portion of the first encoded data to the first physical page; and initiating storage of a second portion of the first encoded data to the second physical page; the method further comprises, in the data storage device: sending a message to a host device in response to storing the first portion of the first encoded data, the message indicating that the data page has been successfully stored at the data storage device, and wherein the message is sent prior to completing storage of the second portion of the first encoded data; and initiating a decode operation to recover the data page, wherein the decode operation uses a representation of the first portion of the first encoded data that is read from the first physical page without using any data from the second physical page, wherein the representation matches the first portion of the first encoded data or differs from the first portion of the first encoded data due to the presence of one or more bit errors. sending a message to a host device in response to storing the first portion of the first encoded data, the message indicating that the data page has been successfully stored at the data storage device, and wherein the message is sent prior to completing storage of the second portion of the first encoded data; and initiating a decode operation to recover the data page, wherein the decode operation uses a representation of the first portion of the first encoded data that is read from the first physical page without using any data from the second physical page, wherein the representation matches the first portion of the first encoded data or differs from the first portion of the first encoded data due to the presence of one or more bit errors.