Is it Correct To Start A Sentence With a Coordinate Conjunction

This seems to be argued back and forth by my Writing and Reading teachers. Here is the problem. For example I write this sentence:

And I went to bed to get some sleep.

Just a simple sentence with the conjunction And at the beginning. My teachers disagree whether this is correct or not. So is it correct to start a sentence with a coordinate conjunction?

This is not a duplicate because my question is about all the FANBOYS, not just the conjunction “and”.

Answer

Yes: in fiction.

No: in formal/academic papers, or in many non-fiction books.

Thomas Pynchon is one of the greatest American novelists and a great stylist. You’ll find in his work:

"Bigger, not softer, ése. And speaking of lunch, how about
tomorrow at Vineland Lanes?"

Zoyd had played a few mob weddings in his career, nothing the kid
couldn’t handle, and besides the eats would more than make up for any
awkward episodes, so it wasn’t as if he were running a mean trick on
his daughter’s boyfriend, whom he was still not 100 percent crazy
about, or anything like that. And as a problem to be addressed,
Isaiah was more like a vacation from deeper difficulties, chief among
which, all of a sudden, was the recrudescence of Hector Zuñiga in
Zoyd’s life, a topic, as he lit a joint and settled in front of the
soundless Tube, that his thoughts unavoidably found their way back to.

Vineland, by Thomas Pynchon

Also, see:

A Grammar Book for You and I– Oops, Me!: All the Grammar … C.
Edward Good – 2002
When you exercise your new writing muscles and use conjunctions to start sentences, make certain you do not put a comma immediately after
the conjunction.

the section that starts with

Never Start a Sequence with a Conjunction
Poppycock, on p. 157

which includes comments from the great stylists of the past, such as Fowler and Follett.

The most exhaustive essay on the matter that I know is:

Garner on Language and Writing: Selected Essays and Speeches of Bryan A. Garner By Bryan A. Garner. See:
On Conjunctions as Sequence Starters at p. 63

Garner being the preeminent style expert of our time, IMO.

I’d strongly suggest to at least peruse it.

Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : Anthony Pham , Answer Author : Marius Hancu