Abstract work with relative fault reported at the beginning (8)
I believe the answer is:
synopsis
'abstract' is the definition.
(I know that abstract can be written as synopsis)
'work with relative fault reported at the beginning' is the wordplay.
'work' becomes 'op' (common abbreviation for 'opus').
'with relative' becomes 'sis' (short for sister. I am not sure about the 'with' bit.).
'fault' becomes 'sin' (I've seen this in other clues).
'reported' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'at the beginning' says to put letters next to each other (some letters go at the beginning of others).
'sin' is a homophone of 'syn'.
'op'+'sis'='opsis'
'opsis' after 'syn' is 'SYNOPSIS'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for synopsis that I've seen before include "rundown?" , "Summary - brief outline" , "sketch" , "Precis or summary" , "General summary" .)