Encountered this writer over time (3)
I believe the answer is:
met
'encountered' is the definition.
('meet' can be a synonym of 'encounter')
'this writer over time' is the wordplay.
'this writer' becomes 'me' (the person who is writing these clues).
'over' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'time' becomes 't'.
'me'+'t'='MET'
(Other definitions for met that I've seen before include "Made a connection" , "London police (abbr) - New York Museum of Art (abbr)" , "Bumped into" , "satisfied" , "Came together, encountered" .)