How To Write An Effective Essay In The UPSC Civil Services Main Exam?

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has released the civil services main exam dates for 2018 on its official website. According to the sources, the exam will take place between September 28 and October 7, 2018. The exam will kick-start with the essay paper on September 28, 2018.

The essay paper is one amongst the nine papers. There are two qualifying papers, namely, Indian language and English. Along with the essay paper, there are four general studies papers and two papers on the optional subject. All the papers are considered for the grand total except the qualifying papers.

The essay paper is the most important one for the civil services main exam and plays a significant role in increasing the overall score. Here are some of the tips that will help you score well in the essay paper.

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Understand The Civil Services Essay Paper

The essay paper consists of two sections and a candidate has to pick one topic from each section out of the given four options. The maximum marks awarded to this paper is 250 and the duration of the exam is three hours. However, a candidate has to write each essay with a word count of 1000-1200 words.

Candidates are required to write essays on multiple topics and are expected to arrange their ideas in an orderly fashion and write concisely. The marks will be given to the candidates based on the effectiveness and exact expression.

How To Write An Essay For The Civil Services

Writing an essay seems to be a nightmare to many candidates, including the aspirants of the civil services. This is required for other exam papers for the civil services main exam such as general studies and the optional subject.

When we put a question on the best way to write an essay for the civil services, everyone will suggest one or the other idea. However, aspirants have to understand that writing an essay is different from other sections because the writing should touch all the corners of the concepts starting from static general knowledge to trending issues.

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Steps To Write An Essay For The Civil Services

Step 1: Pick The Topic

As we said before, a candidate should select one question out of the four choices. Picking up an essay is the most important task because you cannot revert your decision. Aspirants should spend at least 10 minutes to read the topic.

Step 2: Think What You Can Write

This is the next step after finalising the topics. One should dedicate at least 15 minutes to think about all the points to include in the essay. For instance, you want to write an essay related to the freedom movement, you should analyse which topics can make your argument or discussion more reasonable.

Step 3: List Out What You Don't Want In The Essay

UPSC has clearly mentioned the word count for the essay. Hence, aspirants should plan how to effectively present an essay in 1000-1200 words. We advise aspirants list out the point that they are not interested in including in the essay because while writing many exaggerate to provide many facts.

Step 4: Create Interest For The Reader

This is a known suggestion to everyone. A candidate has to create some interesting stuff while writing an essay such as quotes. We advise you to write the essay to read like a discussion forum which will create an engagement between you and the evaluator.

Step 5: Make Introduction And Conclusion Unique

Almost everyone tells candidates to start the essay's introduction with astonishing lines. However, we advise you to start with unique lines to accentuate your originality. Evaluators will give more importance to the conclusion as well, hence, aspirants should have enough points while concluding an essay.

The above five points are believed to be the top ones to write an effective essay for the civil service. If you have any suggestions, you are welcome to increase the list by commenting in our comment box below.

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