Hi All,

You must have heard that optional answer writing and GS answer writing are 2 different Poles. Let us analyze the reality.

Traditional View:

• The 2 differ to massive extent.
• Write in points in GS and in Paragraphs in Optional.
• Innovate in GS. Innovation is a grey area in optionals.
• Do not use technical words of optional in GS.

New Trend:

Have you noted the fact that off late, first timers are scoring higher marks in optional than ‘veterans’?

Yes! Newbies are scoring more, especially in popular/humanities subjects like Sociology, Geography, Public Administration, PSIR etc.

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Possible Reason:

• Demands of answer writing are changing.
• Focus is shifting from depth to multiplicity of dimensions.
• Focus is now on innovation and presentation.

According to above, the current view is:

• Innovation is need of hour. Doesn’t matter if it is GS or Optional. Draw diagrams in Optional even if your optional is philosophy!
• Write a mix of paragraphs-points-bullets in Optionals. Times have changed. Pure paragraph based answers are things of past.
• Focus on dimensions rather than depth. Write various aspects of an issue rather than focussing too much over one aspect.
• Make use of GS in your optional answers. For example, in history optional, if you are asked about some doctrine then conclude with recent doctrines like Asia Pivot.
• In GS, there is no harm in using technical lingo. I used it in GS-1 and scored well in all attempts.

GS Answer Writing: My Answer Writing Strategy.

Optional Answer Writing: My Geography Strategy.

Solved Papers:

• Geography-1.
• Geography-2.
• GS-4.
• GS-3.
• GS-2.
• GS-1.

Hence, in my view, the line between the 2 is thin and is narrowing down further. Innovation is the key.

ATB