How To Improve Writing Skills For The UPSC?

If you have qualified Prelims 2019 are eligible for writing UPSC Mains 2019 from September 20-29. You don’t need to become the Shakespeare for cracking UPSC Mains exams. By saying this I mean, your knowledge on the subject, the writing order, and the accuracy of facts and figure mentioned in the answer are more important than having a command on the language.

 

Every year lakhs of candidates apply for the Civil Services exams but few qualify UPSC Prelims and fewer IAS aspirants crack Mains. So, why fewer candidates qualify the Mains to reach the final recruitment phase of the UPSC, the Interview? First of all, the competition in the Public Services exam is very high. Candidates would have to give their hundred percent to in each of three UPSC phases—Prelims, Mains, and the IasInterview.    

 

UPSC Prelims is a gateway to the Mains and it gives more importance to the knowledge of the candidate. It is a qualifier round and its marks aren’t added in the final result. The second stage of UPSC examination is Mains. It doesn’t merely focus on the knowledge of the candidate rather evaluates their understanding of the concepts and overall thought process.

 

Article to Read:-Best ias coaching in Delhi

 

Here are some basic tips which can help you to improve your writing skills for the UPSC mains.    

 

Read more to make your writing smooth

 

You can’t write much on any subject without extensively studying a particular subject, it’s a fact. Go grab some books from the store or make the library your second home, do whatever you can to have command on the subject.

 

If you get bored from reading your textbooks try switching to non-fiction books related to your subject for sometimes. But be sure you get back to your basic books such as NCERTs, Indian Polity by Laxmikant, and India After Gandhi by Ramachandra Guha as soon you finish them. 

 

Reading can help you to get easy ideas on the subject whenever you start writing about it.   

 

Right writing pattern

 

Mains is not about showing your writing skills by using literary devices, too many quotes, and difficult words. Here, you have to be technically correct. If your essay doesn’t consist of three basic things then no matter how good your language in the answer is you aren’t scoring many marks out of it. 

 

Three must-have elements in an essay:

·       A proper beginning with an attractive introduction. You can start with a quote or brief about the knowledge on the subject.

·       The body which includes facts and information. It shouldn’t be disintegrated.

·       Conclusion is the must. You need to give an overview of your essay to the examiner. 

 

Must have substance in the essay

 

Your essay shouldn’t be many long paragraphs of your assumptions and beliefs. You need to read the question properly and write an answer which has some substance. There must be facts and figure, names if necessary, and important dates, if you can recall it rightly.

 

UPSC Mains is not about writing anything to increase the word count. It’s not like writing your graduation paper. You have to be selective about which information to include and which to exclude in your essay. Don’t write just to increase the word count. A short essay will work fine if you have included all the necessary information in that. 

 

Be grammatically correct

 

Though you need not worry much about your language still you have to be grammatically correct. If you are weak in grammar than chances are you would lose marks in the UPSC written examination.

 

Your answer must have correct spelling and grammar to make a good impression in front of the examiner.

 

Your answers might lose their meaning or can be misunderstood by the person who is checking your copy. So, it’s important to fix these small loopholes to ensure good scores in the Mains exam.      

 

 

Work on your vocabulary

 

Vocabulary can help you to convert your thoughts easily into words. If you lack the basic vocabulary you would lose time thinking about the right word. So, read the dictionary to improve your vocabulary.  

 

Practice hard

 

To improve your writing skills, write as much you can. Keep a diary for practice or start your blog. This is the best way to train you for the Mains UPSC examination. You can spot improvement in your writing daily.   

 

Keep track of your mistakes and try to avoid them in the next essay. Show your written work to your friends or family and ask for feedback. If you are publishing a blog, you can always get valuable comments from the readers who follow you.

 

Conclusion

 

Start your Mains preparation from now. You can improve your writing skills and crack UPSC Mains by following these tips. The journey of becoming an IAS officer is not easy but it’s not impossible. Thousands of IAS aspirants every year crack UPSC exam to join jobs in the Public Services sector.