How to Improve Mains Answer Writing Practice for UPSC

1. How to Improve Mains Answer Writing Practice for UPSC As you all are aware, there are nine descriptive type papers in the UPSC CSM exam. You also have to get the minimum required marks here to get an interview call. Thousands of aspirants take the main written exam, and most all study the same material. So, how do you differentiate your best answers from the rest? It would help if you wrote in a style that is good, knowledgeable, clean, orderly, error-free, aesthetic, and reflects your clear understanding of the facts. Skilled answer writing art is the most critical and decisive factor, which can make or break your result. The knowledge you have has its importance, but what matters more is how well you can turn that knowledge into answers. Writing answers in the UPSC main exam is as important as preparing for this exam. When you are preparing for this exam, your goal is to learn to write an effective answer. Primary Tips for Daily answer writing practice for UPSC 2021: * Read the syllabus of each subject thoroughly, study only what is relevant for the exam. However, I am assuming that you will have integrated preparation during the preparatory examination, and you have the proper basic knowledge of GS subjects. * Always build a strong base with NCERT books first, as most GS syllabus is covered from 6th to 12th grade NCERT. Once you have built a strong foundation, focus your attention on standard books, and make sure you study only relevant standard books, not read everything. * The first and most important source to cover the current affairs and the dynamic part of the syllabus is reading newspapers and various types of magazines. The Hindu and Indian Express are the most recommended newspapers. Then, sources like SansadTV, AIR News, Editorial, Current Affairs compilation, Budget, and Economic Survey are essential sources to be well aware of current affairs, which is an important part of the preparation process. Intermediate tips and tricks: Intermediate tips will guide you to overcome the challenges faced in every paper and score well. Aurally answer writing practice requires a comprehensive strategy. Maintain the structure of your answer: Almost every answer must maintain three steps: introduction, main body and conclusion. * The opening paragraph of any answer is known as the introduction. Candidates are usually confused about what should happen in the introduction. Preferably, the introduction should be informative and familiarize the examiner with the subject or the desired answer. To write an ideal introduction, make sure that it contains about 10–15% of the words in the complete answer. For example, if you are asked to write any answer in 150 words, you should dedicate 15 - 25 words to the introduction and make it concise and simple. You can learn this well by daily mains answer writing practice.

2. * In an answer of UPSC Mains, some things should be kept in mind while writing the main body after introduction, such as - Start your paragraph with the most important points and maintain a chronology of importance of each point. If both positive and negative analysis is desired for an answer, divide it into two paragraphs. Explain positivity first and then negative aspects. Make body paragraphs with bulletins and points more factual and disciplined, which are to be more emphasized. For fact- based questions, emphasize facts and reality. If there is an opinion-based question, it may be harmful to use the facts too much. Present the facts that support the opinion you are using to authenticate the answer. * The conclusion should always be a balanced product of the entire answer to have a positive impact on the examiner and understand your reasoning ability. Try not to end your answer by imposing another question; it will reduce your quality by confusing it. To end your answer, start with a simple and relevant sentence that brings together all the main elements, arguments and important facts. Practice writing answers continuously: Mains answer writing practice is an essential part of civil service preparation, without which IAS preparation is just a daydream. While practicing answer writing, keep in mind that it mainly consists of some important things The first is the ability to remember, process and write ideas in a time frame. At the beginning of practice, open-book practice is always beneficial. This will help you to remember important points more quickly because the source of your learning will be in front of you, and you will be comfortable writing within the time limit. But time is precious. Practice writing each answer within 7 minutes to increase your speed and efficiency. To get an idea of how fast you need to write and how much you need to improve in UPSC Mains, first of all, start with previous years papers and sample question papers. For daily mains answer writing, you will find various types of mock test papers in the market. When you have the opportunity to use the time in any other question in which you are more likely to score better, skip the unfamiliar questions. Make sure to write the unfamiliar question with 30-40 per cent accuracy. It is not wise to leave any questions blank. Although the standard will be slightly lower than other answers, the information given by the answer will help you get more marks. Mains answer writing practice ensures your success and can also fulfil the dream of the desired cadre through better rank. So always make answer writing practice your priority.