As LOTR said... DO IT SLOW !
What difference does it make if it takes 18-20 minutes to do a 'burn' at the SLOWEST rate available... AND do it with a
Simulation burn as well ???
A few extra minutes in the burning will benefit you with years of good listening...
And, I did not see it mentioned so will strongly advise you to NEVER USE CD-RW disks for music that you wish to play in 'normal' CD players.
(Strangely, the opposite is true for burning DVDs with a high success rate !)
I'd suggest 'practicing' the burning of entire disks and also track by track compilation disks using CD-RWs... Later you can 'erase' them...
After you have become good at the burning you can start using the CD-R disks with a lot more confidence and a lot less money wasted on 'coaster collections' !
p.s. Don't do ANYTHING else with your machine that involves Hard Disk Drive activity while you are burning CDs...
Multitasking as depicted in the movies only works in the movies !!!