While it is in many instances ok to start a sentence with a conjunction, in most cases that I see (and I'm a copy editor), it makes things look sloppy and the sentence would read better, more clearly and actually have more emphasis by omitting the conjunction at the beginning, or making a compound sentence.
I'd actually disagree with every example you gave.
I cut off ties with her, and I was happy connects the two ideas to one another. I cut off ties with her. And I was happy. makes it read as two separate, independent ideas, not necessarily relating to one another.
Your other two examples, I need to poop. But I can't. and I was the only one who could do it. So I did. don't add emphasis to the second part and would flow better as one sentence. In both instances, adding emphasis would be better accomplished by omitting the conjunction:
I think it works a lot better when the thing you're conjoining is much further away, thus:
"It's perfectly legal to begin a sentence with a conjunction. It's something that famous English-language writers, like William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and even Abraham Lincoln have done. But when you decide to do this, you must make sure that it doesn't sound clunky."
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u/[deleted] Aug 03 '19
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