A story can be very plain without dialogue but you must be careful about the amount you use. Whether you want your story to be dialogue heavy or light, you have to find a good balance that still keeps the reader engaged in the story. A helpful tip in creating dialogue is by paying close attention to the ones you overhear. This doesn’t mean go ahead and eavesdrop on anyone around you when you get the chance, but the occasional times you happen to overhear something take note of it. Listening to real-world interactions will help get a feel for making realistic dialogue. Effective ways to add to dialogue is by linking action with speech. For example: I threw my back head to stare at the stars, “God I miss them.” This is better storytelling rather than separating the two by giving a set description of the scene then putting dialogue afterwards. An interesting type of dialogue is indirect. Indirect dialogue means to sum up what wants to be said instead of quoting it. Dialogue is very powerful because it allows characters to speak for themselves. You, as a writer, are giving them a voice.