Methods for data storage on polymers are provided. In various embodiments, an erasure error correcting code is selected. Input data is read from an input file. The erasure error correcting code is applied to the input data to generate a code word. The code word is encoded according to a chemical alphabet. A number of cycles required for synthesis is determined for the code word. The encoded code word is screened according to the number of cycles. The code word is retained where passing the screening.