The Ames Public Library hosted author Basi Affia (Aniekanabasi White) to discuss the power of storytelling Tuesday. Affia is a comic book writer, actor, recording artist, former member of the Army and a father. The owner of Sensi’il Studios, Affia, has created the first Black-owned comic book company in Iowa.
As Affia started his presentation, he noted that his speech was a “workshop” for a TED Talk he hopes to present. Affia spoke about how storytelling affects people, how we learn about where people come from, how we share values and his journey in the Army as a religious affairs specialist.
“Everything we do is storytelling. Job interviews, inventions, introducing yourself to somebody,” Affia said.
Affia shared that storytelling involves emotional investment and is meant to create emotion in a reader and consumer of a story, whether a book or a film. By creating a connection in a story, concepts can become more understandable.
“The greatest emotional investment is falling in love,” Affia said. “Telling stories does the same thing because it evokes emotional investment. Stories can cause your brain to be flooded with the same chemicals as a real-life experience.”
As Affia spoke about his past, he shared how outgoing and curious he was as a child. When he switched elementary schools, he found that the population of these schools was predominantly white and discussed his struggles with anxiety and how he overcame his battles.
“Somewhere along the way, you figure it out,” Affia said.
As the author of the graphic novel series “Aaru En Duat,” Affia shared his process in creating characters and finding substance for his stories.
“I write the script and character sheets, I come up with characters and an environment and based off what their character sheet says they are, that dictates what happens,” Affia said.
He said these characters are fleshed out and people in his mind.
“If you don’t know how to tell your story, you will borrow someone else’s,” Affia said.
When sharing about his life and his love for storytelling, Affia shared that people have the power to tell their own stories. This comes with three fundamental principles of telling their story: faith, discipline and transparency. Affia believes people can tell their story by being truthful to themself.
“Some people say ‘mimicry is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness,’ so by not knowing how to tell your own story, you’re running the risk of being mediocre,” Affia said.
