The writer turned up ahead of manager to get raise (6)
I believe the answer is:
emboss
'raise' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'the writer turned up ahead of manager' is the wordplay.
'the writer' becomes 'me' (the person who is writing these clues**).
'turned up' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'ahead of' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (I've seen this in other clues).
'manager' becomes 'boss' (I've seen this before).
'me' written backwards gives 'em'.
'em'+'boss'='EMBOSS'
'to get' is the link.
(Other definitions for emboss that I've seen before include "opposite of grave" , "Chase" , "Ornament with slightly raised pattern" , "Make a raised carving" , "Ornament in relief" .)