Imagining the examiner nodding in approval was one of my greatest pleasures while writing points for my UPSC essay. As my mock essay copies would come back after evaluation, that imaginary nod would soon remain what it always was—only imaginary. Yet, on the day of the final exam, as luck would have it, I imagined that I would write my smoothest (and not best) essay ever. Without thinking a lot about my sentences, I penned down my structure in the easiest to read format. This was a lot less complicated than the previous time. I was not really expecting much, but it reflected in my result. From 134 in 2021 to 149 in 2022.
How to write fine essays in the UPSC CSE exam ? Truth be told, I am not sure what specific aspect exactly got me that score. However, not limiting ourselves to the genre of essays called “upsc”, A+ compositions have a few things in common across the board.
The bad news ? There is too much noise, clutter and air around the CSE essay. The good news ? Once you manage to separate the matter from the chatter, writing a CSE essay is always closer to painting or sculpting than everyone’s favourite word—“strategy”. Just like art gives you freedom to choose your own colours, ingredients and organise them the way you want to, the CSE essay is the most flexible and imaginative part of the exam. As a cherry on top, with some effort, you can manage to score relatively better in this paper.
The single most important thing in any piece of composition is that it should have a feel-good attached to it. Try to remember the difference you felt after reading a mediocre book and after reading your favourite book.
You might not have disliked the mediocre book, but you would have definitely felt the satisfaction of a return on investment after reading your favourite book. The latter is how you have to make the examiner feel. No matter any minor shortcomings in your essay then, you will get a good score.
Step off the essay conveyor belt and forge your own track
Ever since I started preparing sincerely in 2020, I have been hearing essay stalwarts throw off the similar tips. The truth is, these very tips, which were once considered unique probably, have today become the staple in essay writing. You must go through these gems, understand the basics, but please devise your own essay tactics.
Pick any topper’s essay from the vast number of mock papers, and chances are you will find them beginning the essay with a story/anecdote, peppering with a few examples across the ‘PESTEL’ and concluding with a grand Sanskrit (or otherwise) quote. Very often these anecdotes or shlokas are hardly related to the theme of the essay and feel forced-fed. That happens because we have refused to believe that the essay is a flexible, creative paper and out of the twenty anecdotes we had mugged up, none exactly fits the bill.
Examples of Nazi Germany, Manhattan Project, Mahatma Gandhi’s sugar soft-spot, Adam Smith’s invisible hand and Harari’s work—these have all become as common as trees in the orchard across toppers’ essay copies. You are not going to offer the examiner the ‘kick’ by exhibiting the same specimens. Terms and phrases like “figment of imagination”, “cognitive dissonance”, “scientific temper” are just sprinkled around without caring for the taste buds. To make matters worse, these borrowed words are even underlined as if these were some original ingenious creations.
If you write the same assembly-line curated paragraphs, you will get the usual approval. In fact, there is a good chance you will be scored below average if these paragraphs end up sounding forcibly melted to fit the mould.
So, please find your own way. Write five essays without thinking a lot about how you are supposed to. Find out how you write naturally and then work on it. Writing is a habit, not an art.
Mechanics over gossips
An almost biblical toppers’ advice is to fill your essay with a plethora of facts, examples, anecdotes and stats. Add perhaps randomly retained shlokas, poems and quotations to the mix. This is often what is reflected in “multidimensional” essays.
The essay does not require you to mention and throw names like Tahani Al-Jamil does. Reiterating the same argument and your favourite side merely with twenty different examples is not convincing enough.
Quoting examples from all the GS subjects is not being “multidimensional”.
More so, it is boring because a good percentage of those who are writing on the theme will write the same examples.
Consider an essay topic : Not all those who wander are lost (Evergreen enough)
Top things most people will include in this essay:
Gautam Buddha’s journey, Ancient sages travelling across the land for wisdom, Robert Frost’s The road not taken, Christopher Columbus, Steve Jobs’ initial failures, Edison’s 10,000 ways to not make a lightbulb, Galileo’s curious mind, Alexander’s voyages across the seven seas etc.
All these are okay.
But I will end up figuring out ten new dimensions of the essay if I go to the why and how and the what if, instead of the who and what and that is.
Now, let us come back to our topic.
Why not all those who wander are lost ?
Travelling thoughts sidestep stagnation. Stagnation builds lethargy, toxicity in the long run. (Like weeds emerging in a garden)
Experiments build failures. Failures build resilience. Resilience builds moral character, better societal morality. (Multiple models of an atom like plum pudding, solar system and the resilience to go on led to quantum mechanics)
Failures are the only stepping stones to success. One day or the other, success will come. (India’s space program)
Successful innovations bring the foundation for the better and bigger things in life. (Gutenberg’s press laid the foundation for the Renaissance, Maslow’ pyramid)
Wandering is risky, selfless. Stability is safe. Those who wander put behind their own comfort for a bigger goal. No one has helped humanity by playing safe. (Marie Curie worked in radioactive environments without worrying for personal safety)
Stable and predictable thoughts will make us factory made thinkers, mimicking parrots, while we are beings with original thinking. (Oompa-Loompas in Willy Wonka’s factory)
How they are not lost ?
They think. Being lost is the inability to be imaginative and logical. (King Mufasa’s lectures to Simba resulted because of Simba’s curiosity, Arjun’s questions of why to fight)
They hope for the best, prepare for the worst. They imagine they can build a flying machine, but are prepared to go wrong and be mocked. (COVID-19 pandemic preparations)
Even if success does not come, the experience builds value. (Revolt of 1857)
They are the personification of fortitude. Lost people while, often struggle to distinguish amongst courage and showmanship. (Socrates drank the poison, Nelson Mandela went to prison, Harriet Tubman fought for others whereas Rome’s public was manipulated easily and refused to think on its own)
They adapt with the times, diversify with the days and hypothesise by the nights. (Tech giant Google puts all eggs in one basket—Internet search, whereas Microsoft is well placed for the future with the division of business and acquiring of Open AI; Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond)
Even if the world does not remember them, they get to go to bed with the satisfaction of being restless enough for at least one cause in their lives. (The first thing Sachin Sanyal does after being released from the Cellular jail was to reconnect with his revolutionary peers !)
But then why is wandering often considered as a waste cause ?
The most seasoned of explorers can get lost in the lack of light.
Without a plan, lofty adventures turn into struggle for survival.
Navigating without a compass and a map is not bravery. It is the lack of calculation.
“Do what you love, and you will never have to work.” Most people struggle to find out what is it that they might love doing.
Life is not a bed of roses. One has duties towards family and society that cannot be abandoned. (Even Buddha had to leave his family, Purushartha dharma)
And what does the theme signify ? Extrapolate from it.
Critical thinking in society and argumentative approaches (I have deliberately avoided the term ‘innovation’).
Freedom of expression emanates from freedom to think.
Brainstorming is the only human ability independent of the body’s capability. (Beethoven)
Tolerance of diverse ideas. Demerits of today’s cancel culture.
Imagination being greater than rote education. Schools must teach creative freedom. (Einsteins’s quote)
Need for Celebration of failure.
Modern life is a work of millions of years where we are free to think of many more things beyond basic survival. It must not be wasted in chasing settlements.
Encouraging travelling and experiencing for learning.
This time, my essay will be truly “multidimensional” because I am not blindly agreeing to the topic and throwing off examples, but I have explored the topic. Once I have taken ten minutes to list down how I can revolve around the theme, it is easy for me to come up with visuals to enhance my arguments. My examples and statistics for these points should be from history, science, economics etc—the healthy mix.
Don’t just scratch the surface of the essay. Give its mechanics.
Prefer breadth over depth. Give multiple reasons for the theme, rather than agreeing with the theme itself time and again.
Try this brief exercise whenever you feel bored: Take any essay topic and write down your why/how/what else arguments for the topic. Next time, take 5-10 minutes and write down your visuals for those points. When you write down your paragraphs, make the argument the central point and use the example to support it, and not vice versa.
Maintain the momentum
In the CSE essay, a smooth transition between paragraphs is akin to a well-designed bridge. It carries your argument from one point to the next, ensuring a logical and engaging journey for the examiner. By weaving clear connections between ideas, you create a seamless flow that showcases your analytical prowess. It tells the examiner that you not only possess the knowledge, but also put effort and time to present it to her.
More importantly however, the better your flow, the less the examiner comes to know of the number of pages she has read. You have enhanced readability for her and made her task easier, even fun. Imagine your essay as a captivating conversation with the examiner, each paragraph builds upon the last, maintaining a momentum that keeps the examiner invested until the very end. This essay that does not rely upon the staples and maintains the seamless flow is highly likely to get an above average score.
And how to maintain this flow ? Think of it as something abstract. You cannot exactly define what all constitutes a well flowing essay, but you can feel the flow when you read it.
Here are a few tips:
Avoid startling differences in consecutive paragraphs in an essay. Instead, if you have to shift to another instance, either build the tempo in the conclusions of your paragraphs, or introduce it as a stark distinction within one paragraph. Don’t swiftly jump from one point to its opposite and then back to the second point. I personally love how Vikram Grewal has never used a single connector to shift paragraphs. He relies on two techniques, which are his originals. One, he often concludes the paragraphs. Instead of using ‘thus’, ‘therefore’ in the beginning of a new paragraph, he uses these words in concluding one paragraph so that it reminds of the theme. That gives him the opportunity to begin the new paragraph on a new note, while also acknowledging the previous one.
Second, wherever he shifts the broad visuals (notice from ethics to science above), he comes back to the theme and keywords of the essay. He uses these to now begin the first sentences of his new paragraph.
So you basically build up to the next paragraph, and use the keywords of the essay wherever you feel stuck.
We will inevitably rely on words like ‘however’, ‘similarly’, ‘meanwhile’, ‘additionally’, ‘while’, etc. The trick is to use these judiciously. Do not begin every new paragraph with these usual suspects. If you are struggling to maintain the flow, you will end up using these words in desperation. Let’s show you how these words can be conveniently avoided.
Consider these paragraphs from a 2022 topper’s copy:
I think this is a brilliant opening. But we could have avoided the often used connector ‘despite’. Simple.
The story is about a man none other than our respected President Shri Ram Nath Kovind.
Life had not turned out as he had expected, yet he did not fret over his failures.
Getting a hang of this would take some practice, but try to integrate it to your natural writing.
If you have time and still struggle with continuity, consider practising the Uneven U technique by Eric Hayot in the first six paragraphs of your essay.
Finally, using questions (rhetorical or otherwise) is one good but underrated way to link paragraphs.
Things to stay safe from
ONE
Please feel free to drop in Pop-Culture examples, but know where to avoid.
Consider one of my favourite toppers from 2019:
I think deliberating on the quote was enough to give this essay a sweet introduction. The pop-culture reference that follows feels forced. You might have better options to quote in this theme like the arrogant emperor refusing to see he is naked, or Dhanananda’s haughty challenge to Kautilya, the point is—even if you don’t, fortunately it won’t harm you as much as trying to fit in a random scene from a fun show.
When you quote pop culture, be alert to try to keep only the “critically-acclaimed” ones in the essay. Sure, The Office, HIMYM etc are fun and easy to remember, but the examiner may not appreciate this. Instead, literature classics, famous folklores and documentaries, stories of famous sports persons might make her happy because there’s a greater chance she has watched/read these and relates with these “non-frivolous examples that certainly can be quoted in a serious examination”.
TWO
Similarly, avoid narrating your own life-story in the paper. There are enough inspiring people who have walked the Earth.
THREE
You can also avoid without great repercussions the trend of “In this essay we shall explore…” Sounds mechanical and non-kinky. And it is usually a similar structure across the writers, so what fresh are you giving the examiner ? More so, if you have missed including something she considers vital for the essay, you are making it more obvious to her.
Sub-heading in the essay is another feature you can choose to ignore. They tend to add mental breaks in writing and literary geniuses are in two minds about whether they belong on a reading composition like an essay. If you think it is really adding value or supporting your writing somehow, then only use sub-headings.
FOUR
You can also safely avoid defining the obvious terms in the essay. Let the reader/examiner decide what ‘honesty’ means. Honesty has been conventionally regarded as saying the truth. Your mentioning this in the essay won’t add something new. Even if you wish to define these terms for some reason, please avoid writing, “Let us first understand what honesty means…”
On the other hand, if it is a unique, definitional term in the essay topic like ‘minilateralism’ or ‘deliberate practice’, and you are sure of the definition, do explain it briefly.
FIVE
Do not give a lot of weightage to evaluations of your essay, if you yourself are satisfied with it.
Peppering up your writing
First, ignore your writing style but focus on the bigger picture. Rate yourself on these parameters after completing an essay:
Did you feel good after reading your essay ?
Did your introduction seem to invite the reader in ?
Does the conclusion seem satisfying ?
Does every paragraph contain an idea that another does not ? Or is it simply paraphrasing ?
Are you using complicated and long sentences too often ?
Does your essay sound like a logically flowing conversation ?
What is missing and why ? A quote, because you do not remember it or because you were unsure of it ?
Once you have noted down these ratings down, your awards to yourself should consistently keep getting better as you write more essays.
Second, work on precision editing on your essay. Check for:
Unnecessary, obvious, lost phrases.
Heavy reliance on transitionary words like ‘however’, ‘despite’. Aim for eliminating each one of those by taking time to naturally link your paragraphs.
Take one sentence from each page, preferably the last one, and make it better.
Use metaphors, alliterations and sharp sounding phrases. So instead of saying,
‘When the reality was discovered…’ try ‘Once the genie was out of the bottle’ and
‘Great philosophers like Aristotle and Plato said this…’ try ‘Aristotle preached this 2500 years ago while Marcus Aurelius affirmed this in his collection of essays…’
Sure, don’t complicate unnecessarily, but a dash of wit will be appreciated for breaking the monotony of going through tens of papers.
FUN FACT 1 : ChatGPT can be a great help here to improve.
FUN FACT 2 : Do not try this at the cost of damaging your original writing style. Only when you are confident. Do not overdo it.
Keep a few cliffhanger/vaguely unspecific quotes ready for concluding a philosophical essay. Or even using them in the body. Examples:
“Forever is composed of nows.” —Emily Dickinson
“Perplexity is the beginning of knowledge.” —Kahlil Gibran
“Everything that has existed, lingers in the eternity.” —Agatha Christie
Bonus: What to Follow
Apart from the standard sources, consider staying in touch with these whenever you feel like:
Mam, this was so helpful....I have some questions very basic, but hope you please :
1) Which pen you used during Mains (as I am having problem in my fingers using the pen I am currently using).
2)Also , please share some of your copies too (notes if possible). On telegram channel if not here, just share the telegram link when you make a channel,its a request that will be so helpful.