Maybe the opening of a Sylvia Plath letter dragged awkwardly (5)
I believe the answer is:
toted
'a sylvia plath letter dragged awkwardly' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'maybe the opening' is the wordplay.
'maybe' becomes 'toed' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'the' becomes 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects).
'opening' is an insertion indicator (some letters open a gap in others).
'toed' enclosing 't' is 'TOTED'.
'of' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for toted that I've seen before include "Carried - conveyed" , "Carried (a gun?)" , "Lugged" , "Bore" , "Carried (something heavy)" .)