Poor editing spoiled gripping opening of novel (8)
I believe the answer is:
indigent
'poor' is the definition.
('indigent' can be similar in meaning to 'poor')
'editing spoiled gripping opening of novel' is the wordplay.
'spoiled' is an anagram indicator.
'gripping' is an insertion indicator.
'opening of' suggests taking the first letters.
The initial letter of 'novel' is 'n'.
'editing' is an anagram of 'indiget'.
'indiget' going around 'n' is 'INDIGENT'.
(Other definitions for indigent that I've seen before include "Needy, poverty-stricken" , "poor fellow" , "Badly off" , "Poor and needy" , "Impoverished, destitute" .)