Question: I realized I start sentences with *the*, *he*, *she*, *it*, *after* and *then* all the time. So I'm starting to use verbs instead. Here is an example of something I wrote:

> 
> Erin left out a sigh. "Why am I thinking so much about this?"
> 
> 
> She decided to forget about the thing, and go lie on bed instead. Talking to herself had really made her tired; a little bit more
> and she would go crazy. She reached to her desk and grabbed her phone.
> Hearing Benjamin's voice would probably snap her back to reality.
> 
> 
> 

I remember having read about this long ago (but I don't remember if the author considered it good or bad writing).

Answer: 
Sentences should start with anything that makes grammatical and syntactical sense. Writers create, so create your own rules. As long as they make sense, your reader will understand.

Your example is actually a gerund, which does act as a noun, but consider these:

* "To be or not to be?" (Starts with a preposition.)
* "Brilliantly, he began his sentence with a verb." (Starts with an
adverb.)
* "Skilled and astute, he quickly posted his question on Stack
Exchange." (Starts with an adjective.)
* "And even some sentences can start with conjunctions." (Starts with
... a conjunction.)

I believe that all of these are correct.
None of your sentences start with verbs, though two of them start with *gerunds*, which is not quite the same thing. In any case, I think that you are fretting about nothing. If your sentences sound fine to you as an English speaker and they avoid the monotony that you were noticing before, then by all means write them however you want. I can't think of many things less useful for a writer than worrying about imaginary rules like "don't start with a verb".