The writer limited personal catastrophe (8)
I believe the answer is:
meltdown
'catastrophe' is the definition.
(I know that meltdown is a type of catastrophe)
'the writer limited personal' is the wordplay.
'the writer' becomes 'me' (the person who wrote the clues).
'limited' becomes 'ltd'.
'personal' becomes 'own' (eg one's own possessions are personal possessions).
'me'+'ltd'+'own'='MELTDOWN'
(Other definitions for meltdown that I've seen before include "Disastrous overheating of core of nuclear reactor" , "Disastrous collapse - nuclear accident" , "Disastrous event as to overheated nuclear reactor" , "Sudden disastrous failure (of nuclear reactor)" , "Serious nuclear accident" .)