.1
Drawing

It's always good to have some kind of sketch. Even if you do no more than a few lines to locate areas of contrast and subject matter. With this piece I began with simple line sketches to locate areas of contrast and then I drew the individual objects. I then used tracing paper to create a more detailed drawing of the subject matter. After that I transferred that drawing to the charcoal paper.
This was done for teaching and communication reasons. I personally use a few straight lines to establish large areas of contrast. I then draw a few shapes to locate and proportion subject matter. Then follow with a few lines to support perspective in the piece as a whole.
More can be done than this, but I feel it's better to keep all detail for the final phase of a creation.

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2
Composition..

This phase is used to create the most basic areas of contrast and the shapes of these areas, all within the rectangle we call a piece of art. We try to achieve a balance of light, mid tone and dark, for a pleasant plus interesting composition.
Following the rule of thirds, the value that dominates the rectangle is the key value. The next dominant value would be there to create interest and flow. The least of the three is there to define and bring balance to the composition.
The technique used to create these areas of contrast is not important. One could use bold single strokes to fill an area and another fill the same area with short pencil like strokes.

. 3
Space & Form

This is the phase where depth is created, using contrast. The distant objects contain less dark values than objects in the foreground; the near foreground contains more dark values.
The form is also established by locating the light and dark sides of objects.
Following this approach the tree line at the distance is created with one value lighter and used as a fill. The same value is also used to create light sides of objects. The darker value is used only for the one Willow limb and the waves in the foreground. This should bring some depth and form to a charcoal sketch.
The individual stroke used to create the areas of contrast is not important. What is important is the use of contrast to create depth .

.4
Detail.

This phase is used to complete the creation. There should also be less work done in this phase than any other, since this phase can be easily overdone.
There are only two values left to work with; the darkest value used to add detail in the foreground and the brightest value used for highlights on the near objects.
If too many highlights or sharp darks are used; there is risk of losing all depth, interest and flow. It is important to know when it is finished and not lose the integrity of the piece as a whole.