This is more of a mathematician question than a mathematics question, but I hope it is still appropriate.
Several times now, when friends have been editing my mathematical writing, they have pointed out instances where I began a sentence with a mathematical symbol, such as $X$, or $a\in A$, etc. This is the sort of thing that never struck me as inherently bad writing, since it is often exactly how I would speak the sentence aloud. However, I can also see their point, in that a sentence beginning with a mathematical symbol can look a little weird (especially when it starts with a lowercase letter), and doesn't quite read the same as a sentence beginning with an English word.
However, now that I have been trying to avoid doing this, more and more I find myself writing awkward sentences to avoid the most natural way of speaking, and I can't quite decide if I am increasing or decreasing the quality of my writing.
Do people have strong opinions on this? Do people have tricks for dealing with this, besides a succession of empty and synonymous clauses ("Thus", "Then", "Therefore", "We find", "Looking at"…)?
Best Answer
I also try to avoid starting sentences with a mathematical symbol. I feel strongly about it, but I can't quite articulate why.
One trick I use that you haven't mentioned yet is something like, "The space $X$ ..." or "The function $f$...".