Odd bits of German stories without content from German writer (5)
I believe the answer is:
grass
'german writer' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'odd bits of german stories without content' is the wordplay.
'odd bits of' indicates alternate letters.
'without content' means to remove the middle letters.
'stories' with its middle taken out is 'ss'.
The alternating letters of 'german' are 'gra'.
'gra'+'ss'='GRASS'
'from' is the link.
(Other definitions for grass that I've seen before include "Split - pot - plant" , "blades" , "Pasture" , "Weed" , "Eg, bent or fescue" .)