The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 12 letter word COWARDLINESS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
C
O
W
A
R
D
L
I
N
E
S
S
More clues leading to the result COWARDLINESS
- What actors learn, getting sucked into playwright’s lack of courage
- Mock actor’s words about struggle with singular lack of courage
- Playwright with words to say about singular lack of courage
- Playwright’s including some text not characteristic of hero
- Mock actor's words about struggle with singular lack of courage
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "lack of courage" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case lack of courage = cowardliness.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.