It's fashionable to be seen with former writers, I've found, though they can be very cheap (11)
I believe the answer is:
inexpensive
'cheap' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'it's fashionable to be seen with former writers i've' is the wordplay.
'it's fashionable' becomes 'in' (in can mean fashionable or trendy).
'to be seen with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'former' becomes 'ex' (prefix meaning former or onetime).
'writers' becomes 'pens' (writing implements).
'in'+'ex'+'pens'+'ive'='INEXPENSIVE'
'found though they can be very' is the link.
This may not be correct. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for inexpensive that I've seen before include "budget" , "Cheap" , "discounted" .)