How do I think of a good topic to write an essay on, for practice, for UPSC?

To start with you may start by writing few paragraphs every day.

Brother, what you think is quite good but it is too early for a beginner to think about this aspect of CSE preparation ie essays.   There are following aspects relating to the CSE preparation. i) Prelims-Static-GS ( CSAT-I ) ii) Prelims-Dynamic-GS ( CSAT-I ) iii) Prelims-CSAT-aptitude( CSAT-II ) iv) Mains GS-I v) Mains GS-II vi) Mains GS-III vii) Mains GS-IV viii) Essay ix) Optional Paper -I x) Optional Paper- II I hope you understand the terminology used by me above. If not, kindly try to know them. This act is known as making a comprehensive strategy for CSE exam. Coming to your question, Strategy to start preparing for CSE exam with practicing essay writing is not good. You have to give the exam in December 2015, you should read the newspaper everyday. Try to brush up your writing skill by commenting under the news on the news websites or answering questions on Quora. Try to have an opinion on every news reported in newspaper, so that you develop a holistic approach on the current affairs throughout the world. If you carefully follow the above steps you shall be able to develop your English Expression Skill. You can visit these urls for the a comprehensive compilation of the UPSC essays. I shall again like to remind, Quality matters, not Quantity. http://mrunal.org/2011/12/analysis-essay-topic-trends-in-last-19.html http://mrunal.org/2013/12/download-essay-2013-question-paper-of-upsc-civil-service-mains-last-21-years-essay-papers-in-bonus-1993-2013.html All the best.

Here's one strategy for developing a research topic once you have a broad topic in mind: Background research will help you develop your  topic and hone or change it in more appropriate ways. Though this seems  like extra work, it is actually a vital, time-saving step. Knowing more  about your topic's background can only help you develop a more effective  topic, and therefore, research paper. Brainstorm concepts. Once you think of a broad  topic that interests you, try to brainstorm all of the words or concepts  you can that might be related to that topic. For example, if your topic  is "polar bears," you might think of the following words and topics in  association: ice, cubs, pollution, hunting, diet, climate change, and  environmental icon. It may help to write this process down. Develop a research question. Once you have come up  with a broad topic and done some background research, you may want to  develop a research question, or a question you're going to answer in  your paper by doing more, in-depth research. What's your general approach to the topic? Think  about some general approaches that may help you further develop your  topic: use a historical angle by focusing on a particular time period; a  geographical angle, focusing on a particular part of the world; or a  sociological angle, focusing on a particular group of people. Start doing some exploratory, in-depth research.  As you do more in-depth research, like looking for scholarly articles,  books, and other sources to include in your paper, you can and probably  will modify or refine your topic based on what you find. Research is a dynamic process. Don't be afraid to discover new things and modify or refine your topic. As an option you can hire some service to do that. The best way to find one is to read essay writing services review on http://www.topwritersreview.com/reviews/