How Do They Get Away With That?

I was reading a novel by a prominent author yesterday and noticed some habits that made me a little crazy. First, there were several sections where the author started several sentences with the word, 'She'. I mean, six or seven times in a couple of paragraphs. And then there's the overuse of 'has', 'had', 'was', and 'that', words that writing teachers will tell students to eliminate where ever possible. And how about when published authors don't transition between points of view? Or when they use four pages to describe the scenery, before writing the scene?
How do they get away with that? Why is it that if an unpubbed writer submits a piece to a contest, they get low scores for these kinds of writing habits?
Have you noticed that after a writer is popular, they can write really horribly, and their editors let them get away with it, and their public still buys? Yet there are scores of writers who have been taught not to be lazy in their writing, to revise a hundred times if necessary, so that all those little irritating habits are culled from their writing.
Well, here's my two cents. Hundreds of thousands of manuscripts are sent to publishers every years and only a fraction of them are accepted. If you want your work to stand out, it has to be good, really good. Publishers don't really want to read thousands of full manuscripts every year. When they read that first page, it has to have a good hook, interesting characters, and above all excellent writing skills. The editor is looking for any reason to toss your manuscript aside and start another. Sure, the big name authors can get away with little nit-picking problems. But newbies can't.
So the next time you submit something to a contest, or put your work out there for someone to critique, remember that your work needs to be as close to perfect as possible. And think about this: Do you want someone like me to be writing about how sloppy and uninteresting your best-seller is on their blog? I mean, we all want to write a best seller, but I don't think anyone wants readers to be saying, "Did you notice how many sentences started with 'she' in that book? Man, I got tired of hearing it. After a while, I just put the book down and forgot about it. Remind me not to buy any more books by her."
Every time you read a 'How To' book, or get your work critiqued, make note of the things mentioned. Keep a notepad of info on writing techniques. Check your work against the list. Don't let anyone change your voice. I'll be back soon with an article on that. But for now: revise, revise, revise, until all those things are fixed. Don't worry about how long it takes to revise. Or how much work it is. Anyone can write crap. If you're really a writer, you'll want people to actually enjoy your work and come back for more. Who knows. Yours may be the next great American Novel!