diff --git a/src/matrix/room/room.js b/src/matrix/room/room.js
index c6e75e95..09b3427c 100644
--- a/src/matrix/room/room.js
+++ b/src/matrix/room/room.js
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import EventEmitter from "../../EventEmitter.js";
 import RoomSummary from "./summary.js";
-import SyncPersister from "./timeline/persistence/SyncPersister.js";
+import SyncWriter from "./timeline/persistence/SyncWriter.js";
 import Timeline from "./timeline/Timeline.js";
 import FragmentIdComparer from "./timeline/FragmentIdComparer.js";
 
@@ -12,14 +12,14 @@ export default class Room extends EventEmitter {
         this._hsApi = hsApi;
 		this._summary = new RoomSummary(roomId);
         this._fragmentIdComparer = new FragmentIdComparer([]);
-		this._syncPersister = new SyncPersister({roomId, storage, fragmentIdComparer: this._fragmentIdComparer});
+		this._syncWriter = new SyncWriter({roomId, storage, fragmentIdComparer: this._fragmentIdComparer});
         this._emitCollectionChange = emitCollectionChange;
         this._timeline = null;
 	}
 
     persistSync(roomResponse, membership, txn) {
 		const summaryChanged = this._summary.applySync(roomResponse, membership, txn);
-		const newTimelineEntries = this._syncPersister.persistSync(roomResponse, txn);
+		const newTimelineEntries = this._syncWriter.writeSync(roomResponse, txn);
         return {summaryChanged, newTimelineEntries};
     }
 
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ export default class Room extends EventEmitter {
 
 	load(summary, txn) {
 		this._summary.load(summary);
-		return this._syncPersister.load(txn);
+		return this._syncWriter.load(txn);
 	}
 
     get name() {
diff --git a/src/matrix/room/timeline/Timeline.js b/src/matrix/room/timeline/Timeline.js
index 2eb8d19b..2ac74e64 100644
--- a/src/matrix/room/timeline/Timeline.js
+++ b/src/matrix/room/timeline/Timeline.js
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { ObservableArray } from "../../../observable/index.js";
 import sortedIndex from "../../../utils/sortedIndex.js";
-import GapPersister from "./persistence/GapPersister.js";
+import GapWriter from "./persistence/GapWriter.js";
 import TimelineReader from "./persistence/TimelineReader.js";
 
 export default class Timeline {
@@ -41,12 +41,12 @@ export default class Timeline {
             limit: amount
         });
 
-        const gapPersister = new GapPersister({
+        const gapWriter = new GapWriter({
             roomId: this._roomId,
             storage: this._storage,
             fragmentIdComparer: this._fragmentIdComparer
         });
-        const newEntries = await gapPersister.persistFragmentFill(fragmentEntry, response);
+        const newEntries = await gapWriter.writerFragmentFill(fragmentEntry, response);
         // find where to replace existing gap with newEntries by doing binary search
         const gapIdx = sortedIndex(this._entriesList.array, fragmentEntry, (fragmentEntry, entry) => {
             return fragmentEntry.compare(entry);
diff --git a/src/matrix/room/timeline/persistence/GapPersister.js b/src/matrix/room/timeline/persistence/GapWriter.js
similarity index 99%
rename from src/matrix/room/timeline/persistence/GapPersister.js
rename to src/matrix/room/timeline/persistence/GapWriter.js
index 9b92409f..06d450a6 100644
--- a/src/matrix/room/timeline/persistence/GapPersister.js
+++ b/src/matrix/room/timeline/persistence/GapWriter.js
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import EventKey from "../EventKey.js";
 import EventEntry from "../entries/EventEntry.js";
 import {createEventEntry, directionalAppend} from "./common.js";
 
-export default class GapPersister {
+export default class GapWriter {
     constructor({roomId, storage, fragmentIdComparer}) {
         this._roomId = roomId;
         this._storage = storage;
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ export default class GapPersister {
         txn.timelineFragments.set(fragmentEntry.fragment);
     }
 
-    async persistFragmentFill(fragmentEntry, response) {
+    async writeFragmentFill(fragmentEntry, response) {
         const {fragmentId, direction} = fragmentEntry;
         // assuming that chunk is in chronological order when backwards too?
         const {chunk, start, end} = response;
diff --git a/src/matrix/room/timeline/persistence/SyncPersister.js b/src/matrix/room/timeline/persistence/SyncWriter.js
similarity index 99%
rename from src/matrix/room/timeline/persistence/SyncPersister.js
rename to src/matrix/room/timeline/persistence/SyncWriter.js
index 97b21952..f27e8a2e 100644
--- a/src/matrix/room/timeline/persistence/SyncPersister.js
+++ b/src/matrix/room/timeline/persistence/SyncWriter.js
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import EventEntry from "../entries/EventEntry.js";
 import FragmentBoundaryEntry from "../entries/FragmentBoundaryEntry.js";
 import {createEventEntry} from "./common.js";
 
-export default class SyncPersister {
+export default class SyncWriter {
     constructor({roomId, storage, fragmentIdComparer}) {
         this._roomId = roomId;
         this._storage = storage;
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ export default class SyncPersister {
         return {oldFragment, newFragment};
     }
 
-    async persistSync(roomResponse, txn) {
+    async writeSync(roomResponse, txn) {
         const entries = [];
         if (!this._lastLiveKey) {
             // means we haven't synced this room yet (just joined or did initial sync)