South American writers beginning to experience apprehension (8)
I believe the answer is:
suspense
'apprehension' is the definition.
(I know that suspense is a type of apprehension)
'south american writers beginning to experience' is the wordplay.
'south' becomes 'S' (abbreviation).
'american' becomes 'us' (abbreviation for United States).
'writers' becomes 'pens' (writing implements).
'beginning to' indicates taking the first letters.
The first letter of 'experience' is 'e'.
's'+'us'+'pens'+'e'='SUSPENSE'
(Other definitions for suspense that I've seen before include "Apprehension, anticipation" , "State of anxious uncertainty while waiting (8)" , "The 3 of having to wait" , "Discontinuance - indecision - excitement" , "State of uncertainty or excitement" .)