Answer writing : Thoughts and philosophy 😊

Answer writing forms one of the most essential part of exam. Some of the aspirants think that

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they will first complete the syllabus of particular paper and then revise 1-2 times … then mast
naha dhoke they will give paper.

This is one of the biggest blunder.

Firstly what happens here is there is postponement of scheduled test paper. Rarely it will

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happen that you will be able to give test after “sufficient revision”. It always feel that i could read
more and give better test….Atlast i have paid for each paper about thousand bucks!!

Second thing happens is you get into habit of rescheduling every time. So your mind thinks like
you have 1- 2 extra days. Aur pure schedule ki band baja deta hai. They finally are able to give
very few test with very less revision,

SO TAME YOUR MIND.

Make your schedule and stick to it. No matter how less you have studied for test. Your time is
up. Your efficiency is low. Your planning is poor. Or your time management is poor. It can be
anything.
So now take it as punishement and give test with whatever you have prepared. PERIOD.

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Do properly for next test. Focus on that. Here you will realise that you start valuing your time
and schedule. Your efficiency will increase. Your mind knows that “you mean business”!!

Highlighting again the importance of test. You must give 20-30% of time and energy in answer
writing ATLEAST.

There is no point in studying 80% and able to bring out 25%. Rather read 60% but bring out
40%. Here answer writing plays key role.

If you frequently give test or write answer daily… you will automatically understand what the
paper demands, what question demands. You start reading every piece of article in newspaper
or any magazine through that lens. For example the way of reading newspaper is very different
for prelims, mains and interview. Very different. You need MAINS lens at this point. So WRITE
WRITE WRITE !!!!

Its like learning to drive a vehicle… after regular practise it becomes smooth like butter.

When i interact with topper of GS, i get same feedback that when they see any question… the
whole skeleton of entire ans comes in mind…. Like 1/2 page of intro and fact… then main body
… then last 1/2 - govt initiative or way ahead … then what conclusion will come.
And when does this start happening…. After you write 100Q ie atleast 5 papers !

I wrote 20-25 GS papers during my 2nd MAINS and 3rd MAINS.

During this attempt ie 4th - I wrote less papers -around 8-10 because i was more or less
confident about GS as i had already practiced a lot. But i did answer writing practice every
alternate day or after 2 days.

Here i gave 30-40 min and i wrote 1 Question of

We can ourself analyse after some point ki kitna acha likha hai aur kitna kachra bhara hai 😂😜
Surround yourself with positivity and optimism. Let the ideas flow from all directions.

Answer writing : Thoughts and philosophy: PART 2

Once Anudeep Durishetty said that there are 12 questions maxx which we know properly. Then
there are 3-4 questions maxx where we have fair idea. They finally 3-4 questions where we
have very less or no idea like the Blue LED light question in this year GS3.

This is the opinion of many toppers.

So why am i telling this??

It is because we tend to just focus on writing good ans of these 12 questions. We dont focus on
how we will write decent and where we have very less or no idea… ie remaining 8 questions
and within TIME.

For this - practice random questions without preparation. Dont always think of practicing ans
after REVISING. It will also help in to know your RETENTION power.

(I joined chrome IAS during my 2nd and 3rd MAINS where toughness level was higher. Vision
IAS papers were relatively easy - just like UPSC standards)

So managing these remaining 8 questions within time limit and giving an impression to
examiner that you know better than others (using flow chart, diagram etc) will give extra marks
and that acts as an edge!! Also you dont panic during exam when off beat W comes.

So sharpen both 12 Q and 8Q.

Answer writing : Thoughts and philosophy: PART 3

There are no perfect ans. There are just decent ans. This has been reiterated by many toppers
during my discussion with them.

I tend to write “Perfect ans” during my 2nd MAINS to get maxx marks in Q i knew. In this i gave
lot of time and was trying to remember almost all points of my notes.

Do remember that any extra time given to any question will steal away the time of last question.
This will be great injustice. Here you may have secured extra 0.5-1 marks but lost 2-3 marks.

So ensure time management of each question well.

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Secondly - KNOW YOUR WRITING SPEED.

If you know that you can complete the paper with certain amount of words (say 120 words for 10
marker and 200 words for 15 marker) … then go with it.
Trick here is increase the FONT SIZE … add diagram and flow chart. This will reduce words
and need only bullet points.

This is what I did. Also i limited myself to 3/4 portion of last page of every question. If i wrote end
to end of every page then i used to miss 2 questions. So i sacrificed 1/4 portion of each question
and gave that time and energy for last 2 question.

I reminded myself in each question that if i write end to end then somewhere 1 question is
getting compromised .

Also i ensured that i wrote quality content in most question and not fill pages for the sake of it.

Btw: MOST IMP THING IN MAINS IS - WRITING DEMAND OF THE QUESTION