When to start:

You’ll certainly may not be able to answer anything if you are way too early in your preparation. It
may dishearten you immensely as you would not be able to answer almost all of them. It may scare
and confuse you immensely. You might never feel like righting answers again as a practise.
So, what you should do:

• Just build your basics first.
• Read the basic books as suggested by any of the teachers/institutes etc.
• Read newspaper every day, without fail.
• Once you are done with the basics in 2–3 months from now, then also just start with the
  questions related to topics you have read about.
• Don’t just try attempting each and every question.
  As and when you progress in your preparation process it will all start to make sense and you
  automatically will have pointers available for your questions.
  Why to do:
• Helps you with remembering concepts in the exam.
• Helps you with Time management
  An aspirant should develop the craft of writing good and concise answers so that the examiner
  understands them clearly. Crisp and ‘to the point’ answers will make sure that you get awarded with
  the appropriate marks.
  Start from note making:
• Make notes and modify them regularly. This will help you gather useful content and save
  time in the exam.
• Use the content of the notes effectively in the exam as and when asked in the respective
  questions. Use your own content so that you become confident
• Always refer to multiple resources while crafting notes. This way you will develop an
  excellent grasp on the subject matter.
• This will not be easy at first but eventually you’ll master the art.
• Lastly, revise notes daily, weekly, monthly and nobody can stop you from qualifying the
  exam.
  How to start:
• Come up with your plan for the next month.
• Decide on the number of questions to write per day (2–3 per day is more than sufficient).
  Also, decide how many essays per month.
• Subscribe to our Mains Test series and practice it religiously as per schedule.
  General Tips to note before you practice answer writing:
• Read the question carefully and break into parts as per the things asked.
• Start with a brief introduction of the main focus area of the question
• Break answer into subheadings and bullet points
• If possible, draw a rough diagram or flowchart to better illustrate your answer
• Give a conclusion/way forward at the end of your answer
• Stick to the word limit and overall time limit.
• Answer writing practice is absolutely essential since at the end of the day, it is the words
  written on the answer booklet that count.

In the beginning just study a topic and choose a question from Previous Year, write it down and self-
evaluate.

The basic structure of an answer is-

• Introduction.
• Body- 20 points (10 marker), 30 points (15 marker)
• Conclusion- 3 lines and should be optimistic.
• Don’t look for ideal answers now, just focus on building your content and the structure of
  your answers.

Just make sure you cover the basic things, such as a proper structure, clarity in your answer, flow,
answers to what is being asked, simple language with proper visuals such as maps, diagrams
wherever needed. But always go with your style.