Lamp this writer picked up (3)
I believe the answer is:
eye
'lamp' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'writer picked up' is the wordplay.
'writer' becomes 'I' (the person who is writing these clues).
'picked up' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'i' is a homophone of 'EYE'.
'this' is the link.
(Other definitions for eye that I've seen before include "Look at, scrutinise" , "round hole in sewer?" , "Optical organ" , "Good discernment" , "Watch closely" .)