Answer writing for CSE Mains – Sri. Abhishek Surana IAS

Sri . Abhishek Surana, Rank 10, CSE 2017 and Rank 2, IFoS 2016

Please visit Official Blog / SOurce Blog For COmpleate Reading ((( https://abhisheksurana.wordpress.com/2018/05/22/answer-writing-for-cse-mains/ )))

The journey from 2014 to 2018

Abhishek attempted the UPSC three times without success, before making it this year.

“I cleared the examination last year with a rank of 250 but did not manage to get selected for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).”

“However, I got through the Indian Police Service (IPS),” he says.

Abhishek took up the IPS seat and was undergoing training at the National Police Academy, Hyderabad when the UPSC 2017 results were announced, and his life changed forever. There was no looking back now.

I’ve improved my marks from 394/1000 last year to 471/1000 this year in GS papers. I feel that improving my answer writing skills played an important role in this. There was no new addition of content as such besides the regular current affairs. So in this post, I will try to jot down my two cents on these topics. he says.

Directive words – Please try to understand the difference between tail words. Not every question demands pro and cons.  A better understanding of these tail words will help you in writing relevant content and give a better structure to the answer. I am attaching  two pdfs  from which I benefitted for your perusal

• Directive words VisionIAS
• Another note on directive words

Structuring – Use diagrams, double underlines, pragraphing, sub headings, bullet points etc to give structure to your answer. There are no rules on how you go about this. This can come only by practice

• Draw borders around your diagrams
• Use double underline for your subheadings
• Don’t stretch a paragraph beyond 3-4 sentences
• You can us directive words as a subheading in certain cases

I found this document immensely useful for diagrams – IAS4Sure material – for presentation and diagram. 

I ALSO use to analyse answer booklets of each year toppers as well as best copies for the test. Used them to get ideas on presentation and diagrams

Practice –

1. If this is the first time you are writing answer then go for InsightsonIndia Secure initiative. It will help you in gradually improving your answer quality. You will see what other candidates are writing, improve your content and structuring, learn about the difference between tail words.
2. Join a test series once you are able to do 4-5 questions from insights in an hour.
3. Never sit for more than 3 hours during a test. Many aspirants have the habit of taking time beyond the permissible limit. I feel this does not help you prepare psychologically which is much needed in the mains exam.
4. Use Previous year Questions for practice

Some of my answer booklets Please visit Official Blog / SOurce Blog For COmpleate Reading ((( https://abhisheksurana.wordpress.com/2018/05/22/answer-writing-for-cse-mains/ )))

Wishing you all the best

-Abhishek

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