Surbhi Goyal (AIR-78, CSE-21) Essay Strategy

Hi All,

Surbhi Goyal secured AIR-78 in CSE-21 in her 3rd attempt. She scored 111 marks in Essay paper and below is her Essay strategy in her own words:

Essay paper is a very important part of the UPSC examination and shouldn’t be ignored, even if you have good writing skills.

You can contact Surbhi at her Instagram Profile or Telegram Channel.

Strategy:

I have shared the basic outline of my essay strategy in my youtube videos at Only IAS & DKT. You can refer to them as per your need.
I referred to essay blog by Anudeep Durishetty sir. I also read essays by toppers like Vikram Grewal and Saumya Pandey.

For time management, I used to allocate 10 minutes for choosing topic. 25 minutes for brainstorming each and 1 hour for writing each. As my speed was good, I sometimes reduced the writing time and increased the brainstorming time.
For introduction, I often began with story/ anecdote/ self written poem.
For conclusion, I used quotations/ poems by Tagore, Gandhiji, etc. or I used to refer to the story I mentioned in the beginning.
I also used quotations throughout the body of essay. Eg: This time I wrote on the topic of “your perception of me is a reflection of you…”. In this, I explained how patriarchal notions view women as weaker sex. For this, I used a quotation by GD Anderson, which said “Feminism isn’t about making women stronger. Women are already strong, it’s about changing the way the world perceives the strength”.

Philosophical essays – Please don’t ignore them as UPSC has shifted its focus entirely towards them. In 2021, most of the questions were philosophical. I enjoyed writing them and hence, I devoted most of my time for them.
Topical essays – You shouldn’t ignore them completely and prepare few important topics that are oft repeated like IR, Women, health and education, environment, agriculture, etc.
Choosing essays – This should be based on what topic you like, or you’re comfortable with. Don’t choose topic based on what others will choose or if it’s a common topic or not.
Use simple english with flow. Don’t use ornamental words or really long sentences.

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Suggestions for people giving mains this year:

If you have practised essays beforehand, you are already good at it and you can give 3-5 tests as per your convenience. I was in the same position.
If you haven’t practised till now, start immediately and don’t wait for results.

Suggestions for people giving prelims in 2023 or later:

Practise essays throughout the year if you’re aiming for next year or you are sure you will not be able to make it this time. I did the same, even though I believe I have decent writing skills.
Go for weekly/ biweekly essays till 3 months before prelims.
Don’t shy away or delay essay writing. It carries equal importance.

Coaching I took for essays: I only relied on coachings for checking my essay copies.

IAS Network for weekly/ biweekly essay writing throughout the year. I will suggest it for students giving exam next year in 2023 or later.
Vision IAS test (had 3 tests) after clearing prelims exam. This can be chosen by students giving exam this year.
Both of them gave me good feedback and insights, with which I was able to improve my essays.

Hope it helps 🙂

You can contact Surbhi at her Instagram Profile or Telegram Channel.

Other CSE 21 Topper Strategies:

DecodeCivils by Mudit Jain