While I was studying some articles, I observed many patterns or styles of writing.
Then I thought which one suits me and which one suits the competitive examination.

I came up with the result that using small sentences and easy to understand is the best way for me rather than going for long and complex sentence structures along with the use of such extra-ordinary vocabulary just to impress the examiner.

What kind of strategy you have decided to adopt?
Your turn.

I think you have decided the most safe option. I had done similar search for easy styles and the dos and donts of essay, from articles posted on this forum. Other than that I had consulted some friends and family members who had cleared the exams recently. Plus some tips taken from friends, who had prepared from academies or some english teacher,, for css exam.

My conclusion was that it is better to keep your sentences simple. As this will help reduce the chance of grammatical mistakes, which means less deduction of marks.
Secondly, the essay should be written with the aim that if read by a common man, is understood and comprehended without much difficulty.

Not saying that you should not try to put in good words and phrases in your essay. But dont try to act like a literary maestro, if you arnt one, because the examiner will easily know your reality. And any act of trying to show oversmartness will lead to nothing but deduction of marks.

And i have used this technique in my essay for 2010, and i got 46 marks. So i feel it works well.

__________________
*Whirling Dervaish*

Indeed, it is a safe option. 'Brevity is soul of wit' is an unavoidable quotation of Shakespeare. Bacon, the essayist, is eminent for his brevity.
One should write in a simple, clear and comprehensible way. As someone has said, "Essay is for a common man and Report is for an expert."

That is exactly how I attempt my essay always.

Simple and easy-to-understand small sentences work way better than longer and complex ones. This is only my opinion.

__________________
Valar Morghulis ~ All Men Must Die!

All fellows are giving fruitful suggestions.... i want to add one more thing that in some articles and magazines some standard sentences are also given which should be copied in the paper(not the whole one). because every one cannot complete the whole essay paper in his own small sentences.so in my personal opinion we should maintain our register separately topic wise in which we write these lines which come from the material. in this way mistakes chances will be reduced

__________________
Main ne Allah ko Apny irado ke tootany se pehchana":Hazrat Ali (RA)"