Beginning a sentance with "And"

Sorry, Mr. Guest, I'd prefer to respond here so that others can read it and consider. I repeatedly exhort my students not to begin sentences with 'And' because all too often, their 'and' reflects the fact that the sentence is too closely associated with the previous one to stand alone, and should really be incorporated as a clause in the previous sentence. The conjunction 'and' indicates a relatively close cohesion to what has been previously stated.

Having said that, there are plenty of occasions on which sentences can begin with 'And', for various stylistic effects-- stress, representation of dialogue, premeditated 'afterthought', etc.

Generally, it is a bad habit to develop, however. And bound to be criticized by some.