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.
If you are struggling with variety in your sentence structure, I think you should make it a *writing exercise* to begin sentences with verbs. Then do an exercise where you begin sentences with adjectives. Then do an exercise where you begin sentences with words that rhyme with *blue*. Any and all techniques that force you out of your comfort zone and get you to practice new forms of writing are good. Ultimately, you should seek variety in your writing, but this is not something you just do. As you have found, once you get used to a certain organizational structure, you start thinking that way. Other sentence constructions have to become comfortable to you before you can start implementing them effectively. So, while the simple advice is to just unfetter yourself, the hard truth is that it's going to seem like you're writing gibberish until new writing constructions feel natural.