How to Start Answer Writing Practice for UPSC- Step by Step Guide for Beginners

Answer writing practice for the UPSC Mains test often causes confusion and anxiety among candidates for the UPSC, especially those who have begun their preparation. Candidates for the UPSC frequently encounter the following queries on the primary practice of writing answers.

• When is the right time to start Answer writing practice?
• What should be the frequency of answer writing practice?
• Shall I focus on the quality of the answers or the speed of answer writing?
• How many questions should I practice each day?

UPSC Answer Writing Practice for Beginners

These are some of the questions regarding answer writing practice that haunt an aspirant who has just started their preparation or aspirants who have limited answer writing practice experience. We are going to demystify various myths associated with the answer writing practice in this article, but first, we will discuss the importance of answer writing in qualifying for the UPSC Civil Services examination.

Answer Writing Practice for UPSC- Importance of Answer Writing Practice

UPSC CSE Mains is the most important phase of the whole UPSC exam for the aspirants. This is because of the following-

• UPSC CSE prepares the final cut-off of selected candidates based on how many marks an aspirant got out of the total 2025 marks.
• The maximum total of 2025 marks consists of 1750 marks for the UPSC CSE Mains exam and 275 marks for the Interview exam.
• This marking pattern shows the importance of the mains examination in the final selection and getting a good rank in the final list of the selected candidates.
• To learn more about the marking pattern of the UPSC CSE Examination, Click here.
• In the mains exam, the art of answer writing becomes very important to fetch good marks.
• To illustrate the importance of answer writing, suppose in each question you get 0.5 marks extra due to your good answer writing techniques.
• Through this, you will fetch 40 more marks in GS Papers alone (10 marks on each paper). Mastering the art of answer writing will positively affect your marks in essay papers as well.
• This is why an aspirant appearing in the UPSC mains exam either this year or next year must extensively master the art of answer writing.

Answer Writing Practice for UPSC- Guide for Beginners

There numerous points are writing to provide step by step-by-step guides for answer writing practice for the UPSC examination. Interested persons must the below steps to improve their writing skills, this skill will help in every type of exam.

• Don’t Start Too Early: Aspirants often make the mistake of starting their answer writing practice at the start of their preparation. The problem with this approach is that aspirants at this stage of their preparation lack adequate foundational knowledge about the topic in question. This often results in a waste of time and demotivation on the part of aspirants.
• Build Basic Knowledge First: To avoid the above mistake, aspirants must read and learn basic books to build basic knowledge about various parts of the syllabus. Continuous reading of newspapers and linking them with the static as well as other parts of the syllabus gives an aspirant multi-dimensional perspective about the topics. Only with such understanding, aspirants can write quality answers as per the demand of the UPSC Mains Exam.
• Understanding the Demand of the Question and Structuring Your Answer: Understanding the question is the next step. The question is frequently misinterpreted by candidates, who therefore write what they know rather than what is asked. This leaves the examiner with a negative impression. Therefore, candidates need to fully comprehend the question’s requirements before drafting their response. Having well-structured responses can help you score higher since it conveys to the examiner that you comprehend the material and also ensures that the information flows naturally.
• Focus on Quality First instead of Speed: Initially, aspirants must focus on writing a good answer, covering multiple dimensions, instead of writing fast and filling pages of the answer booklet. Once, you know how to write a good answer, you will automatically pick up the speed at a later stage of your preparation.
• Write Regularly: Last but not the list, you should be regular in your mains answer writing practice to get maximum benefits. Regular here does not mean every day, rather it is your discretion to fix the answer writing practice routine/frequency as per the available time. Once you have decided on the frequency, you must be consistent in your answer writing practice for the UPSC Mains exam. This will immensely benefit you both in the Mains (in terms of answer writing and knowledge) and Prelims (in terms of knowledge) examination.

All the Best !!!

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