Hi Stephanie, I apologize for the delay in responding to your question, and hope that by now your starter is rising vigorously! If you're still having trouble getting your starter to rise you might want to consider giving it larger feedings, as recent conversations with Debra Wink suggest that a larger meal will allow for more generations of growth, and may contribute to better yeast activity. You could try feeding twice a day with 1 part starter : 3 parts water :3 parts flour (by weight) and see if this helps. If you're worried about wasting flour, these feeding can be quite small, say 20g starter : 60g water : 60g flour, and then you can build up the quantity of your starter once it's rising well. For yeast activity to remain vigorous you'll want to refresh your starter when it's at its peak of rising, or just beginning to fall, rather than feeding when the starter has fully collapsed. You can adjust the timing of your feedings to fit your schedule, by adjusting the ratio (larger feedings generally take a bit longer to reach peak than smaller feedings). Also keep in mind that temperature also plays a part in the rate of fermentation and things will generally happen more quickly in warmer environments, but there is no need to go any warmer than 80ºF, and usually the low 70's works just fine. I hope this helps! Let us know how it goes. 

Barb

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