Repeatedly counter this writer, cold and brutal (8)
I believe the answer is:
barbaric
'brutal' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'repeatedly counter this writer cold' is the wordplay.
'repeatedly' indicates the doubling of some letters.
'counter' becomes 'bar' (bar is a kind of counter).
'this writer' becomes 'I' (the person who is writing these clues).
'cold' becomes 'c' (eg on taps).
'bar' duplicated is 'barbar'.
'barbar'+'i'+'c'='BARBARIC'
'and' is the link.
(Other definitions for barbaric that I've seen before include "Wild and savage" , "Cruel; primitive" , "lacking in refinement" , "Brutal and uncivilised" , "Rabbi car for rough and uncivilised" .)