Article about this writer and really criminal act (8)
I believe the answer is:
thievery
'criminal act' is the definition.
'article about this writer and really' is the wordplay.
'article' becomes 'the' (the 'definite article' part of speech).
'about' indicates putting letters inside.
'this writer' becomes 'i' (the person who is writing these clues).
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'really' becomes 'very' (I've seen this before).
'the' placed around 'i' is 'thie'.
'thie'+'very'='THIEVERY'
(Other definitions for thievery that I've seen before include "immoral practice" , "plagiarism?" , "Practice of stealing" , "wicked act" , "criminal activity" .)