The misuse of "There is" and "There are"

The English adverb "there" followed by "is" or "are" have become handy phrases many untrained writers borrow to begin a sentence.
But don't.
The word "there" is an adverb. Like all other adverbs it modified a verb, an adjective or another adverb.
That's all.
It is properly used to indicate direction or location.

Example: "I put the textbook right there beside the laptop.
Example:  Let's not go there.

"There is" or "There are" may sound good, but they indicates lazy writing. Using those phrases to begin a sentence tends to confuse the reader and make the reader work harder to find the subject and the action in the sentence.