SIR - Salaam,
Kaise hain aap? (This style of yours is dashing, I am considering of adopting it.)
Thanks for the tips. They are exactly like what I have been suggested.
My seniors further suggested me to make short sentences.
Reasons: They minimize the chances of errors. They are easier to handle.
Avoid aggressive usage of vocabulary in pursuit of impressing the examiner. Sometimes you might end up using words whose proper meanings either you do not understand or you might commit the crime of using them improperly.
The examiner would just encircle such usages and those circles would put a bad impression while the marking phase.
So use a simple word rather than a complex word.
[Also supported by Sa'adat Ali Shah, author of Exploring the World of English]
As regards the brainstorming part, they agree with you there as well. They assigned 30 mins. (max) for the brainstorming part and suggested not to pick up the pen to write the essay before proper planning (noting down the points and making the outline) - and once you've planned the essay well, dont' stop while you write
!
Outlines are too important. They give a sense of direction. The ones who don't make outlines are often caught guilty of digression.
Outlines further help in giving a 'complete' look in in the essay. You might have missed an important point in the outlines, but if you have discussed all your outlined points in your essay, the essay qualifies the definition of a 'complete essay'.
Also, they have strictly prohibited a candidate from switching topics once the have begun. According to them, crossing the answer copy is an unethical practice. [This was a suggestion of a CSP(2003) with merit number 26. Actually the guy had himself crossed his essay while attempting his PMS exams. And surprisingly, he failed in his PMS. Perhaps because he had to pass CSS. I feel sorry for him.
]
Hence, the emphasis on proper planning prior to writing.
[Ficklemindedness is to be limited to the planning part only.]
Further, a candidate should practice writing essays on blank sheets (sheets without margins to write on). It is my personal observation that if you use good quality paper (not the photostat one), you would be able to write more beautifully. Use an ink pen with good quality ink (darker inks tend to resist the pen's smooth motion, so, avoid it).
During practice, one should have a strict vigilance on the moving sticks of the clock. Limiting oneself to 3 hours, as in exams, would be a good idea at the advanced stages of practice. [At the beginning stages you can take however long you want. With the passage of time, you'll have command over writing and the time span will shorten by itself].
This is how a candidate gets used to handling time-constraint pressures.
Get your essays checked from some experienced person. He could be helpful in renovating sentence structures (if required).
NOTE: Before writing this I presume that the candidate does not have serious grammatical shortcomings in his style.
Brother Karrar, thats what I could add right now. In case you have some conflicting views about any point, we could settle the matter from under the table
Regards,