One of the fundamental mistakes aspirants make in their preparation is ignoring basics and going after advanced content/concepts/materials. Firstly give priority to strengthening basics related to every topic of all papers of GS and Optional. Even when you do answer writing for the first time, choose basic questions from NCERTs and gradually move to complex questions. Even in complex questions, give space to write about basics related to the topic in the question(Eg-In Question on competitive federalism, there should be first definition of federalism before you dwell deep into the topic). Never ignore basics while preparing for this exam. Irrespective of whether you are a fresher or someone who has reached till interview stage, you must keep revisiting basics, especially from NCERT texts/your notes. Most aspirants forget basics when they start digging deeper about a topic from multiple sources. Reading advanced stuff looks/feels great, but won’t get you results unless basics are strong.