Strategy For PCS Mains (Essay): By Geetika Singh Battu, PCS Rank 5

Geetika has given outstanding performance in PCS Mains and specially the Essay Paper in which she has scored 109 out of 150 which is the highest score in essay. I express my thanks to her for investing her precious time for discussing her approach to Essay Paper.




Geetika Singh Battu:

Hello to everyone who are out here dedicating their time to read what I intend to write. I know it usually gets boring to read what other people have to say (listening is comparitively more fun). So I’ll try my best to keep it to the least boring levels possible!

It was the 27^th of February that brought in a very joyful, spirit uplifting, and a jubliant news in the form of PCS exam results.  In a country where a significant number of the youth are vouching for a desirable, decent and a respectable job, a lot rests on the result of such exams! Countless hours of preparation, burning the midnight oil (though for some it must be watching an early sunrise), piles and stacks of papers and books, hours of revision, those three hours of countinuous writing (mind you, that is the toughest task of all times- to finish an uncanny long paper), preparing for the interview, and it all comes down to one day- the D- Day, the day of declaration of the results.

Here I am attempting to make an effort to help to future aspirants. Let me tell you, I am no professional and I hardly can call myself experienced, but anything that would be able to help others must be done (after all, that’s what the services are all about). So today I’ll start on about how I went through the essay paper. If you like it and find it helpful, I would be very happy. And in case you’d want me to share the experience of other papers, I’ll be very willing and happy to do that too (though I’m sure people scoring more than me would be in a better position to write on that one).

We all have been writing essays’ since our school days. Who can forget those language papers! So writing an essay is not something that we haven’t done. The focus should be on how to improve the writing so that appeals to the examiner and he is generous with giving marks!

There is no one way of writing an essay and no rules that I can jot down. It varies with every person and his/her personality. That is what the aim of the paper is. To get one to reflect their personality on paper. However, an essay includes three main components:

1.     An introduction

2.     The main body

3.     Conclusion

An introduction could be anything that would lead to the topic of the essay and not the topic itself. It could be a story, a question, some historical event, or anything that you could relate to the topic. For instance, on an essay on science and technology, we could begin by observing the elements of science and technology that we use in our daily routine. Or anything like that.

The main body of the essay is where one actually jots down what the essay demands.

The conclusion can be anything one can make up with regards to the topic. Seeing the future (that’s an ability I believe each one of us secretly dreams of having), the potential impact, answering the question that one had put up at the beginning of the essay. Anything, you can think of.

Now the main part comes, how to go about with the writing.

Most important is the need to maintain coherence in the essay. The paragraphs of the essay should flow to each other. It shouldn’t be haphazard. For this matter, one shouldn’t start writing the fair draft just by reading the topic. Making a structure is a crucial part and about 10-15 mintues should be devoted to it before starting writing (the time actually depends on how many essays you’ve to write. If you have to write one essay in three hours, you can easily put in half hour to 45 minutes for brainstorming). The broad structure should be followed by noting the points that form a part of each heading. This brainstorming would ensure that all points are noted down and one doesn’t miss anything they wanted to write in the final piece. It also ensures the fluidity in the essay.

There is no magic wand that would improve one’s writing skills in one day. So the solution is right there in the sentence preceeding it. ‘Practice writing’. And I don’t mean that you start writing a three hour paper right now. Start writing anything. Maybe a diary recording the events of the day,maybe a blog,  maybe on something that is close to one’s heart- it could even include writing letters to your friends or lovers! The main aim behind it is to unleash your creative side. Creativity is the critical aspect of the essay. The more creative one is, more personalized the essay becomes and more appealing to the reader. Lets just for one moment think, what kind of articles/books do we like to read, only the ones that appeal to us and connect with us. The same goes for the essay we write and the examiner who reads. The examiner has to read through 1400 essays. Unless he finds that distinguishing factor that makes the essay interesting, he is likely to be just reading though and not enjoying the piece. We have to write just three essays and the poor chap has to read 1400*3 pieces. So more the creativity, more original and interesting the essay would be!

An essay can be beautified by adding quotations, similies and metaphors. Statistics can also be used. These tend to add the additional ‘wow’ factor to the essay. For this, a habit of reading can be developed. And it’s definitely not necessary to read just the syllabus text books. Reading fiction, non fiction, magazines, all can help in one way or the other. The twin benefits include expanding one’s vocabulary and giving a person more ideas to ponder upon.

Last, but not the least, the essay paper doesn’t require any special preparation. The knowledge part is taken care of whilst preparing other subjects (with a truck load of syllabus, one usually gets acquainted with the information). And believe me, everyone has the knowledge. Only, that knowledge needs to be penned down in a logical manner, and that requires practice and patience. This paper requires the least preparation on the day before the actual exam (after all, one doesn’t know what topic could we be asked to write on. The expanse is as huge as the elements under the sun!).

One can always practice writing an essay(s) to become more confident. They may get this checked by their teachers, trusted friends, or anyone who they think can critically analyze it and give their honest opinions regarding it. It tends to boost up one’s confidence and this goes a long way in motivating a person through their preparation process.

That said, I guess I have already taken a lot of your precious time. I thank all those of you who had the patience to read through the entire piece and I sincerely hope that this would benefit you in your coming exams.

I wish each and everyone all the success in their endeavours! Best Wishes!