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Three different types of words can make writing vivid and real.

The first type is adjectives. These words describe nouns (a noun is a person, place, or thing). For example in the phrase "a red balloon," red is the adjective that describes the noun. More than one adjective may be used, but no more than three in a row should be used. If two or more adjectives are used, they usually need a comma in between them unless one is a color. Adjectives should not be used to often because they will burden the words and sentences too much.

The second type is the adverb. Adverbs describe verbs. For example, "he said softly," softly is the adverb and said is the verb. Adverbs almost always end in -ly. Softly, quietly, bizarrely, rapidly, wildly. But these words should only be used when absolutely necessary.

The first two types of describing words are very direct. They directly describe the person, place, thing, or action. But the last type of description word describes very indirectly. This type is the most powerful of the three.
The last type are verbs. Verbs are perhaps the most powerful words in the English language.
Some verbs are very specific and do not need to be described by an adverb. For example, "he whispered" or better than "he said softly." It is better to use one word than two words; it makes your writing more powerful and concise.
Verbs also indirectly describe nouns. For example, you could say "her hair was beautiful." Beautiful is an adjective describing her hair (it's actually called a predicate adjective because it's separated from the noun by a linking verb). But a better way to describe her hair is to show that it is beautiful through action. "Her hair gleamed" "her hair rippled" "her hair swung"
This is doubly good because the reader comes to his own conclusion that the hair is beautiful without the writer having to tell him (in writing it's almost always better to show rather than to tell), and the sentences use vivid, strong verbs. Vivid strong verbs make the writing come to life.