Little time invested in ropey novel, creative work (6)
I believe the answer is:
poetry
'creative work' is the definition.
'little time invested in ropey novel' is the wordplay.
'little time' becomes 't' (abbreviation for time).
'invested in' indicates putting letters inside.
'novel' indicates anagramming the letters.
'ropey' with letters rearranged gives 'poery'.
't' inserted inside 'poery' is 'POETRY'.
(Other definitions for poetry that I've seen before include "Verses" , "Sonnets, limericks etc" , "Lines" , "'Best words in best order' (Coleridge)" , "Metrical writing" .)