Guidelines for Writing Appropriate Essays | UPSC Mains Essay Preparation PDF Download

Simple Presentation with Simple words instead of Hard Words

The best writing style is a simple one. Therefore, it is advisable to prioritize simple and familiar words that effectively convey your ideas on the given topic. The use of complex, difficult, or grandiloquent words is unnecessary. Opt for words like 'help' instead of 'assistance,' 'use' rather than 'utilize,' and 'more' or 'extra' in place of 'additional.' Always remember the words of the humorous playwright and novelist Enrique Jardiel Poncela: "When something can be read without effort, great effort has gone into its writing."
As such, your essay should capture the reader's attention while remaining easy to comprehend. The employment of straightforward language not only enhances the standard of your essay but also commands more attention.

• Well-structured presentation: The viewpoints you want to elaborate require a head, body and tail pattern. The traditional pattern is: Introduction, body and conclusion. This structure helps us present the topic in three major parts with a better comprehension scope. In ‘Introduction’, the context of the topic is told briefly; in the ‘Body’ the topic is presented in detail in addition to logical arguments; and in the ‘conclusion’ we sum up the topic highlighting the argument. 
• On Writing an Introduction: ‘First impression is the last impression’. Exactly it is. So, we should always keep in mind that first sentence of the introduction part must be written with careful consideration. We should arrest the attention of the reader at the very beginning, and make him/her interested and enthusiastic to read the essay at a stretch till its end. 
• On Writing the Body: Now, we need to elaborate the topic with logical arguments, views, ideas, thoughts and with figures (if necessary) and be aware to present it in relation to the introduction––as if we are elaborating every word of introduction part. The body demonstrates the depth in the topic and maturity of the writer as well as his ability to represent a topic in his own skill within the deadline of time. So, before you start writing an essay, scan your brain with the rays of the topic down your memory lane so that your knowledge, ideas, views and instances related to it might dazzle in your brain. Sort them out based on your idea about the demand of the examiner by the topic i.e. exactly what he wants to know from you. Now arrange them according to the manner of presentation just as a military General brings the army of soldiers in order with just a word. This part contains almost 90 per cent information and must satisfy the reader’s requirements. Take care so that this part treats a clear understanding of the subject, logical development of your points, and reflection of your grounded reasons.

On Writing Conclusion

• Now, we reach the final stage—the conclusion, which is a crucial element that validates your essay and encourages the reader to revisit it for satisfaction. Summarize the subject matter presented in the body of the essay. Provide a logical conclusion to your arguments, viewpoints, thoughts, or factual statements. Based on these steps, bring your essay to a close with tight symmetry, emphasizing the importance, significance, necessity, or urgent measures needed in our society. Remember, the conclusion mirrors the writer's inner vision, serving as the voice of the writer to the reader on the given topic. It should convincingly convey the entire subject matter presented in the essay. Finally, conclude the essay with a sentence that leaves a lasting impression on the reader's mind.
• In the context of UPSC elimination, essay writing can be categorized into two types: one for academic purposes, which requires time and comprehensive research, and the other for assessment in competitive examinations. In the former case, greater control can be exercised over the content, while in the latter, it may be nothing more than a response drawn from a given stimulus. Under the pressure of scoring qualifying marks out of 200 within a three-hour time frame, there is limited scope to respond well but to express one's unique style of perceiving the world. The essay writing section is designed as a potent tool by the UPSC elimination process to identify candidates of the desired profile. Essay writing uncovers the candidate's abilities that UPSC requires, similar to a personality assessment interview. A candidate needs to be well-prepared beforehand to orient their knowledge, ideas, and views on the given topic, as essay-writing skills involve multiple filtering stages.
• Before attempting to write an essay, consider answering a few significant questions. Can you, within a tight timeline, read and understand a series of assigned articles? Can you distill the essence of those articles and summarize them in only a few sentences? It is acceptable, and we believe you can. However, can you connect the essence of those articles to form a single cohesive unit by generating a new idea? Can you add thoughts and insights based on the ideas in those articles? Ponder on these questions to discover the answers we seek.
• So, we have tasked you with writing an essay to challenge you in diverse ways, ensuring that you can face challenges during your UPSC preparation process and beyond. But where do you begin? How do you know when you're done? Let's attempt to address these queries.

Review the Topic Again and Again

You yourself will develop some questions sometimes on issues of national and international importance. But most of the time you will be provided with topics designed by experienced professors/professionals who are appointed by UPSC, and you will need to respond them. Scan the topic and think out the issue. Rack your brain for feasible responses or get into that ignites some creative insights.
Ask yourself the following questions on reviewing the topic:

• Do you understand the topic?
• Do you know the issues to be addressed?
• Do you feel that you can make a blueprint of the topic?
• Can you give it a comprehensive outlook?
• Can you recognise and distinguish, based on the outline, your ideas from the authors’? If yes, try to create a balancing base with a little of critical approach complementing each other.
• Do you feel comfortable enough with the language competency necessary for carrying out the planned outlook?

Draft the Topic First

Based on the level of flexibility with your writing speed and accuracy, you may choose to invest 10 minutes to 1 hour in order to frame the introduction, successive paragraphs and conclusion.
Just go on writing down your ideas that come out of your brain in flow, and avoid controlling your first responses.

• What questions do you have for the writers of the various articles assigned to you?
• Do you find any inconsistencies in their views/articles?
• What problems do you find in the articles?
• What mistakes do you identify in them?
• What is your message on the topic?
• Can you present any claims or assertions in support of your message? If you don’t have any, you need to check if your message is robust enough.
• Do you find any evidence or instances that support your claims? If you don’t have any, you should better move to other available essay topic.

Concentrate on the Introduction

After you finish your draft, you should check out your important points.
Now think and answer the following:

• Does your introduction present the context or background for the issue and relate your message? If not, why not?
• Is your objective clear and correct?
• Do you think it requires explaining your objective?
• Can your last sentence give the reader a clear understanding to the rest paragraphs of your essay?
• Is your introduction relevant to the essay question? If you have any specific essay question, your introduction must be directly relevant to the question. If you have a long essay question, your answer must touch on the issues presented in the question, but generally it does not attend to all the details of the question.

Concentrate on Other Paragraphs in the Body

Once you finish your queries and doubts relating the introduction part, you should motivate on the additional paragraphs of the body by solving the following queries:

• Do you develop your main theme in the successive paragraphs by asserting and supporting with evidence to make your point stand for the hallmark? If not, you should better start discovering the evidence and examples in support of your points.
• Have you included lots of ‘shoulds’ in your writing? If so, this type of writing can point to assertions without evidence and examples to back up claims. Try to rewrite most of the ‘shoulds’ out of the response. Try replacing ‘shoulds’ with ‘coulds’ to see what happens. Usually you have to offer more evidence and examples to shore up your ideas.

Concentrate on the Conclusion

Finally, you should motivate on the conclusion that decides the competency of your skills in drawing out considerable and significant resolution.
Now try to solve these queries:

• Have you given a conclusion to your topic essay?
• Does your conclusion restate your introduction? If so, rewrite your conclusion, because it is substandard, not at all can hold water.
• Have you incorporated the major ideas treated in the essay in your conclusion for offering your reader more insight on the topic? If not, why not?
• If not, what do you think your conclusion should contain with a view to further the major theme you have discussed? No doubt it is hard to do, but you should try to master providing such points because they will help rank your essay.
• Have you drawn all the points of the analysis together in order to provide the reader? vi. Could you present how the points of analysis work together?