Answer writing is a Science and I watched 12th Fail movie!!

His question was how to pass the 'Mains' exam? (UPSC has 2 sets of exams, prelims, and mains)

For people who haven't watched the movie, there is a scene where the lead character runs to the house of an IAS officer (whom he met earlier when he was a student) to ask the question.

The response to the question led me to think about how our CA exam has a similar structure.

• We also have long-form essay-type questions and answers.
• Each question has pre-assigned marks.
• We have, though not explicitly, implied time constraints to answer each question.

What does a good answer look like?

A good high-score answer is when it answers the question logically and comprehensively. The responses to the open-ended question vs a closed-ended one are different. Focus on the completeness & overall structure of the answer.

Here is how I worked on this problem:

Specificity and Structure

The examiner will pretty much discard your answer if your response is not to the question asked. It demonstrates that you either do not understand the question or you have no knowledge about the answer. It is critical to read and understand the question carefully and even sprinkle some of the exact words of the question in your answers. Respond to the question only and that’s it as anything more may risk you acting smart, and anything less may risk you losing marks. The difficulty that usually arises is what is the outer boundary of your answer.

Before answering the question, I used to quickly jot down the overall structure of the answer. Quick mapping of the keywords of the answer and how they all will stitch together to form a coherent response. The structure of an answer makes the logical mind interpret the answer. Most of the experts have an answer to the question in their head, it is your duty to fall into that structure of the answer. The more sameness (of the answer in his/her head), the happier the examiner is and the more marks you score.

Think and write in points

Here is the counterintuitive thing I noticed about long-form essay-type paragraphs which we find in our modules and books. They all have ideas stacked over each other. All of these can be framed in your own words succinctly. Most of it is in one sentence or even one or two words.

We need to break it down to identify the key ideas and reword it to couch it in our heads. Use these ideas as pointers and create a comprehensive answer to the question.

Handwrite

I will be the first one to admit that I am super lucky that computers were invented at the right time for me to be able to type as my handwriting is terrible. Sometimes I cannot read my own. But, like you and me, examiners are humans, and there will be days when he gets up on the wrong side of the bed. Better be prepared for it. While improving handwriting in a short time is improbable ( if not impossible), as long as you keep it legible you should be fine.

I devised my own few rules, without compromising with the speed.

1. Give lots of space between words.
2. Keep the font size big.

I wasn't looking for gains here but to reduce my losses due to illegible handwriting.

But if you are one of those who have beautiful handwriting, for the record, I am jealous of you.

Writing complete and coherent answers is what drives your marks up so be deliberate about it. Keep it simple and practice.