Lawrence spends almost all his free time working on the subscribers' abridgement of Seven Pillars, but progress is far slower than he had forecast. It is not until September that he is able to circulate a specimen proof of the Introductory book, then consisting of eight chapters.

Overwork, the pressures of life in the Tank Corps, and what he sees as his failings as a writer begin to take their toll on Lawrence's mental balance. He spends much of 1924 in a state of depression.