Writer occasionally gets to speak first (8)
I believe the answer is:
essayist
'writer' is the definition.
(I know that essayist is a type of writer)
'occasionally gets to speak first' is the wordplay.
'occasionally' indicates alternate letters.
'to speak' becomes 'say' (I've seen this in other clues).
'first' becomes 'ist' (ist resembles 1st).
The alternate letters of 'gets' are 'es'.
'es'+'say'+'ist'='ESSAYIST'
(Other definitions for essayist that I've seen before include "Writer of short literary pieces" , "Lamb, perhaps" , "Bacon maybe" , "I write" , "Writer of short compositions" .)