i think it starts first with seeing.
we have seen so many things, that even the most glorius become, quickly, unless we make an effort, old hand.
the sun rises every day, and we expect it to, but when was the last time you got up before dawn, and went someplace you could watch it?
and not just the sun... watch what happens arround you. if you are a city, maybe, you'll notice the fresh smell of bread, as the bakery doors are opened and the fleet of truck start their rounds, you might hear the harsh, rough sound of metal gates opening, in small shops, with the click and clunks of the locks being removed. the steady background hum of traffic, changes, as more traffic enters the road, and things move slower, can you hear the the rasp of the air breaks? and the low rumbling of large trucks as they gear down to slower speeds? as it get lighter, suddenly, the street lights blink out.. most in my city are controlled by light sensors, and one sensor might contol a string of 10 or more.. you can watch their light die, like phantoms of the night, vanquished by the encroaching light of the sun..
or you could just say, the sun rose and the city came to life.
if you don't see the detail, you can't express them. start small... you don't need a big vocabualry, (but it helps, because a single word can create an image-- above i wrote a factual sentence about the mechanism that turn off street lights.. and followed it with a image, a fanciful way of expressing the same facts.. on long straight streets, it is interesting to watch the lights go out sequentually.. and to imagine they are beings, who die in sunlight.
and read good descriptive writers, and become aware of the way they use words to create images.
