In the UPSC mains exam, you need to channel your energy in a much more productive and impressive way in answer writing in coherence with time and speed. As there is a limited time to write the answer to every question, it becomes quite tough to stay in congruence with the demands of the question. Here it becomes imperative to learn and understand how to write the most effective answer in the UPSC civil services mains exam. Below we have mentioned some important tips, to follow till the end to have a better understanding to improve your answer writing.

1. Understand the question

Before writing the answer one must fully understand the demand of the question. Certain directives are used in questions like, evaluate, critically analyse, comment, opinion, etc. one must know what the particular directive is asking you to deliver and accordingly answer the question with full understanding and confidence.

2. Internalise and link

After understanding the question one must internalise the question and link it to the knowledge repositories stored within your brain, try to find out different connections of the question, and link it with relevant sources to make your answer quite impressive, up to the mark, effective and out of the box and in coherence with the demands of the question.

3. Keywords and vocabulary

Every subject has its own vocabulary and presenting your answer in correspondence with the same will have a magical effect on your style of presenting the answer. Stick to the keywords to express the main content and also try to underline them to highlight the main points in your answer.

4. Handwriting and presentation

Beautiful and stylish handwriting will have a positive impact on the evaluator's brain but due to limitations of time and maintaining of constant and fast writing speed, one has to compromise with beautiful handwriting. Writing should be neat and legible, easy to understand, and presented beautifully in combination with charts and graphs, figures and tables if needed.

5. Brainstorming and anticipation

Before writing an answer one should think for a while to make a proper framework for the answer in mind. Following this technique will help you in preparing balanced and logical answers to the question. One has to train the mind from the beginning to anticipate the answers before writing anything on paper. Mock tests are the real drill to practice it.

6. Bullet points and simple Language

Write an answer in bullet points or paragraphs according to the demand of the questions, writing an answer in a combination of both bullet points and paragraphs is very impressive. One should always remember that keeping the language simple will add more value to your answer than using complicated language. On top of that one should stick to the word count limits set by the UPSC

7. Introduction 

Write an introduction that ideally fits the crux of the basic theme of the question or the topic in consideration. The introduction should be precisely clear and impressive as it is the first point of contact between your answer and the evaluator. If the introduction is well-written and impressive then half of your work is almost done. Always remember that the introduction should be precise and not more than one-tenth part of the total answer.

8. Body 

The body is the main part of the answer and should be exclusively knitted around the demand of the question. It should be well-balanced, well-weighed, multidimensional, and attractive. One should write in bullet points and where needed one should also take recourse to the paragraphs. 

9. Conclusion

One should end up the question with a note that is the culmination of the whole process and overall the reflection of the mindset of the UPSC aspirant. Both positives and negatives should be balanced with a healthy positive way out. A conclusion should always end up with a positive tone and outlook. An aspirant should always possess a natural inclination towards a way forward or solution to the problem.