South American writers start to exploit uncertainty in stories? (8)
I believe the answer is:
suspense
'uncertainty in stories?' is the definition.
(eg when reading a book)
'south american writers start to exploit' is the wordplay.
'south' becomes 'S' (abbreviation).
'american' becomes 'us' (abbreviation for United States).
'writers' becomes 'pens' (I've seen this in another clue).
'start to' indicates taking the first letters.
The first letter of 'exploit' is 'e'.
's'+'us'+'pens'+'e'='SUSPENSE'
(Other definitions for suspense that I've seen before include "Uneasy uncertainty" , "State of anxious uncertainty while waiting (8)" , "State of apprehension about what's going to happen" , "Alfred Hitchcock was the master of it" , "State of anxious excitement" .)