Pressure, how much and where is usually the key, for most new honers. How much, is difficult to tell someone to use, other than, more or less.

The difficult thing for new honers to accept is, you have to do, what each razor needs. Two identical razors, can hone very differently, and most will need more attention, at the heel and toe. Formulaic honing rarely works for all razors, they are just guides, looking at the bevels and edge will quickly tell you where you need more work.

Changing directions of the circles, will change the pressure. If you hone a lot, you will eventually learn to feel the difference of the bevel on the stone, but it is just one test, and it takes a quite a while to calibrate.

A visual test, is more consistent. Look straight down on the edge, if you see reflections, the bevel is not set. Then, just remove, all the previous stria from each stone in the progression. Make sure to remove all the circular/angular stria, with finishing straight or diagonal laps, or it will cause you no end of problems in the higher grit stones. I often use circles to set a bevel and again on the transition stone, 3 or 4k to remove all the deep 1k stria. Then finish with straight strokes, before moving up. Straight or angular laps will show you, if you have removed all the angular stria.

Test, test, test, I use the Thumb Pad Test, Hair Test, and Visual with 100X, looking at the bevels and lastly the edge. If any tests fail, back to the stone. Do not rely on a single test.