How do you draw with charcoal?

I get this question all the time at Comic Cons, on Facebook, anywhere anyone sees my artwork. Charcoal is apparently regarded as a very difficult medium. It is a good thing I did not know that until after I had begun using it. I am compiling my answers to those people now to hopefully help you in your journey to drawing with burned wood.
​TL; DNR Vacuum your paper and wash your hands!

Charcoal comes in many forms and in many qualities. Pure charcoal uncompressed comes in the original vines (burned twigs) or in actual powder. This type of charcoal is much softer than compressed charcoal in pencils or sticks so it crumbles easily, does not stain paper or adhere to paper as well as pencils or sticks, has a lighter shade when applied to paper, and is easier to spread over large surfaces. Compressed charcoal comes in rectangular sticks or pencils bound with wood or covered with clear acrylic. I prefer charcoal pencils because they can be sharpened most easily and I do a lot of detailed work requiring a sharp point. Quality matters with charcoal because I have owned some cheaper charcoal pencils that contained chunks of matter compressed within the smoother powder. The consistency and smoothness of charcoal can affect one's drawing because harder chunks within the lead or charcoal of a pencil can actually scratch or indent one's paper while drawing leaving a scratch in the paper that fills with charcoal differently than the surrounding area. Charcoal comes in different hardness like graphite does: Ex Hard, Hard, Med, Soft, HB, B2, B8 etc..
The softer the charcoal, the more crumbly and the easier to spread. The harder it is, the less likely to break, and the least easy to get on the paper and the less dark the shade. 

Vine or Powdered Charcoal
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• Soft, uncompressed
• Lighter shade
• Non-staining
• Easy to spread
• Messy

Compressed Charcoal Pencils or Sticks

• Hard, compressed
• Darkest shade
• Stains
• Most detailed
• Easier to sharpen
• Easier to clean

​Charcoal is difficult to use for a few reasons: usually it is compressed powder that crumbles even from charcoal pencils and blows everywhere, it stains paper in such a way that it cannot be completely erased once applied, and it is difficult to clean from surfaces (tables and hands included). Mostly people tell me how messy it is and ask how I keep white areas in my drawing from becoming clouded with accidental smearing. I use several strategies:

• I tape my paper around all the edges to a table or hard surface 
  • This leaves a drawing with a hard edge all the way around making it look MUCH cleaner in the end. 
• I wash my hands throughout the work, usually around 30 minutes apart.
  • This keeps my hands from picking up any stray charcoal powder and spreading it. It also keeps my hands free of sweat or oils.
• I use a hand held vacuum to get ALL extraneous powder off the paper and table.
  • This is the most important tip I can give. Almost all messiness and smearing occurs from unseen charcoal dust sitting on tables, erasers, chairs, blankets, and hands. You cannot just blow it off the table or off the page. Even blowing the dust leaves visible trails on paper. Be careful that you vacuum the dust at a 90 degree angle upwards or you will also have dust trails to the vacuum. If you fill an area with charcoal and immediately vacuum it, you will have less dust to fill the texture of the paper resulting in a lighter shade and more texture of the paper visible. If you fill an area with charcoal, use a blending stump to push the charcoal into the texture of the paper and then vacuum, you will have a darker shade and less visible paper texture.
• Use a kneaded eraser to clean white areas constantly. 
  • Some dust will end up in white areas, especially if you have a hard white area next to a very shaded dark area. Kneaded erasers pick up what they erase unlike vinyl or plastic erasers which slough off as they remove. The sloughed pieces contain charcoal dust that can also smear.