1. A method comprising: determining, by a controller for a non-volatile recording device, an error-correction code (ECC) code word of data; storing, by the controller, a first portion of the ECC code word in a first set of cells of a first memory element of the non-volatile recording device, the first set of cells located on a source side of a vertical memory structure of the first memory element; and storing, by the controller, a second portion of the ECC code word that corresponds to the first portion of the ECC code word in a second set of cells of a second memory element of the non-volatile recording device, the second set of cells having a different error rate than the first set of cells, the second set of cells located on a drain side of a vertical memory structure of the second memory element.