Do’s and Don'ts for Essay Writing | UPSC Mains Essay Preparation PDF Download

Consider the title thoughtfully, taking into account its meaning and scope. Determine whether it prompts you to generalize, establish a specific viewpoint, or express your own stance. It's essential not to undertake the essay unless you genuinely agree with the categorical statement presented in the title, as generally, one is not expected to argue against the title (unless a writer possesses the flair and self-confidence to do so). For comparison, examine the contrast between two titles: "India is not fit to be a democracy" and "Is India fit to be a democracy?" In the first title, you are required to support the statement, whereas the second title allows you the freedom to choose your own perspective.

• One must select a perspective and a pattern for developing one’s thesis. One should jot down one’s points and arrange them in the pattern with focus on one’s perspective. 
• One should use words effectively. However, difficult words or ‘flowery’ language should not be used. Each word should contribute to the development or explanation of the idea. Archaic and obsolete usage must be avoided, for examples, albeit, ere, methink and trow. It is better to leave out the foreign words, unless they have achieved currency in English. Usage of slang should also be avoided, oven what is known as journalese, i.e. words coined by journalists and newspapers for effect. One must keep a recent edition of a standard dictionary which will help one identify such slang expressions. Effective usage of words also requires one to know which word to use and where. Though, there are numerous synonymous words, but they are not always interchangeable.
• The usages of clichés or time-worn idioms should be avoided, for example, ‘keeping the wolf from the door’, ‘from the frying spice of life’, ‘there is no time to stand and stare’ have been over used and are thus hackneyed. 
• One should firmly resist the temptation to strew one’s essay with quotations to emphasise one’s point of view even if one has a good memory. Quotations act as dangerous props the presence of which indicates the writer’s lack of ideas or inability to express what he or she feels. Quotations should be used rarely and only in context where they give depth to an idea.
• Unnecessary repetition in writing should be avoided. Few examples of avoidable repetitions are Ramesh is never late for work; he is always either early or on time. Mrs. Sharma kept her house spotless, and it was perfectly clean. The butcher was very thin. This thinness was commented on by many of his customers. His customers commented on it because it seemed so inappropriate in a butcher. What would be more appropriate in a butcher, they felt, was a sort of jovial chubbiness.

In all these instances, the effectiveness of statements can be enhanced by expressing them only once.
The subsequent passage illustrates the type of thoughtless word usage that one should avoid. Often mistaken for argumentation, it merely embodies the skill of conveying nothing in an extensive manner.
This paper aims to outline how the Industrial Revolution impacted numerous lives. The significant technological upheaval recognized as the Industrial Revolution transformed the functioning of almost all societal levels during that period. Absent this extraordinary Revolution, none of the transformative changes that have shaped our contemporary lives would have occurred. Presumably, no one who lived through that period remained unaffected. What we encounter here is a profound eruption in technology, science, and manufacturing techniques of all kinds that caused extensive reversals in the life, habits, and beliefs of nearly every individual on this planet. Indeed, our society, in all its facets, was destined to be permanently altered. No life, regardless of its status, emerged unscathed from the Industrial Revolution. In the entire preceding history of the world, nothing had caused such an unforeseen and revolutionary impact. Consider some examples. How many cities, villages, and families experienced the familiar old way of life slipping away as new ways took over? No subject has received more research or detailed scholarly commentary than this; perhaps, we possess more knowledge about this period than any other before or since. To conclude, this wealth of evidence indicates the profound extent to which the Industrial Revolution significantly affected the challenging yet rewarding lives of many of our American ancestors.

• One should check one’s writing for correctness. Ungrammatical sentences have no place in an essay. The words, phrases, expressions about whose meaning or correctness one is not sure should not be used. Long and rambling sentences which are difficult to comprehend should not be used.
• An essay reflects the views and personality of the writer. Thus, from the point of view of an examination, keeping extreme opinions to oneself and not express idiosyncrasies would be considered pragmatic to. 
• One should be clear, lucid and simple so that one cannot go far wrong. 
• Starting essay with brief introduction preferably with a small relevant anecdote/story/incident is a better way to create some genuine interest in the examiner’s mind. 
• It is not very pragmatic to start an essay with definitions of the terms in the essay topic, because most of the times it is difficult for us to define the terms precisely. Moreover, the essay topics in recent times are highly subjective in nature that requires our personal opinions and views. Therefore, it will put constraint on our creative ability of writing to start the essay with objective definitions of terms and problem may arise in flow of essay and lucidity of expression from one idea to other etc. 
• It is a nice option to start with a popular quotation. However, it is very important to write quotation relevant to the topic and thus one should know numerous quotations. A quotation however good it is if not 100 per cent relevant to the topic, it becomes a liability rather than asset, because it needs to be substantiated in line with given topic in our essay. Quotes of various scholars should be added wherever required and should be linked with recent happenings, events, etc. Enriching the essay with several quotes and examples has a lot of potential to fetch good marks. 
• In an essay, the best option to start with is writing about the most relevant recent news item or a small anecdote with 100 per cent relevance to the given topic. We need not prepare specially for this. 
• Do not provide lengthy introduction prior to actual topic to test the patience of the examiner who have little patience to go through supposedly irrelevant matter.
• Indicate the salient points of the essay in bulleted form to give the examiner an idea of what has been written in the entire essay without going through it. 
• It will also help in ensuring that any major topic covered by the writer is not missed by the examiner due to a casual glance at the papers. But, make certain to introduce it in second or third page of the essay. Moreover, incorporate it in the regular flow of the essay rather than making it appearing like an index. 
• The writer should write as many examples and case studies as possible to logically substantiate his/her arguments. 
• The grammatical errors and interpretation problems in an essay could be reduced by writing simple sentences. 
• Conclusion is another important part of an essay. One should has a fair idea about how to conclude the essay during the brainstorming session itself. For the writers having clear introduction and conclusion in their minds, streamlining the thought between these two objectives becomes easier. 
• It is better to write about introduction and conclusion in their full length while forming the essay structure itself. The writers will have enough time to refine it during this stage. Especially with conclusion, it works very well as conclusion may not be a best piece of writing just before the closure of the prescribed time.
• One can overcome the language barrier by concentrating on content and smooth transition between various ideas with interesting introduction and conclusion. One should not worry about flowery language and adhere to use of simple meaningful sentences logically linked to maintain the flow of the essay.

Taking care of all these things results in good writing, and if time permits, you can highlight key assumptions, analysis and conclusion by simply underlining them.
There is no doubt that essay writing is challenging, but if one thinks of it as a way to teach oneself about the important issues and ideas, it could be a possibility that one of these ideas turn out to be the rank-deciding factor for the writer.