Woeful epic that's in need of editing (8)
I believe the answer is:
pathetic
'woeful' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'epic that's in need of editing' is the wordplay.
'in need of editing' indicates anagramming the letters.
'epic'+'that'='epicthat'
'epicthat' anagrammed gives 'PATHETIC'.
(Other definitions for pathetic that I've seen before include "Sad - hopeless" , "Distressing" , "arousing contempt" , "really pitiful" , "Touching and pitiful" .)