Sour not

I'm really hoping that this is harder than it looks.  My starter is a bust.  It smells and not the right kind of smell, either.  More along the lines of soured yogurt.  Not good.  It isn't doubling like it should at this point.  It isn't bubbling.  In short, it's not sourdough starter.  I think my first mistake was self-rising flour.  My second was switching mid process to bleached all purpose.  I haven't found anything that says self-rising is wrong; in fact the only mention of flour type I've found is unbleached.  Come on folks,  pretend I've never done this before.  Pretend you're talking to a cook, not a baker.  More research is in order and then I'll try again.  I really want my sourdough pancakes.