Shaking like a writer (5)
I believe the answer is:
aspen
'shaking' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'like a writer' is the wordplay.
'like' becomes 'as'.
'a writer' becomes 'pen' (something which writes).
'as'+'pen'='ASPEN'
(Other definitions for aspen that I've seen before include "Colorado winter sports town" , "Tree, kind of poplar" , "Tree that quivers" , "quill-like?" , "somewhere in Colorado" .)