Go to Lowes or Home Depot and pick up a Charcoal Chimney. Its like the device Uncle Meat was explaining on how to make. They are like $8 or something. You don't use any lighter fluid with it. Just put some wadded up newspaper under it, put the bricks in the top and light. 10-15 min later you have hot coals. You can either use just those coals if you are cooking a small amount of food, or you can dump the hot coals on a bed of un-lit coals. Wait until the coals are HOT, they turn white when they are. Don't use Match Light coals either, they have lighter fluid in them and that can spoil the taste of the food.
Google up some charcoal tips, BBQ ideas, smoking tips, etc. I learned a lot about smoking ribs / chicken etc from the internet..and I never used a smoker before last week and took 2nd in a rib cook off my first time using one!
It may take some time to learn to cook on coals vs gas, since with coals you can't just turn down the heat. Some people like to start the coals on one side of the grill so they have a hot side and a warm side so you can move food back and forth to get even cooking.
A small spray bottle with water will help kill flare ups if you get any. Burgers are notorious for this....
Oh...and practice, practice, practice.
You might want to keep a log / diary of how much coals you use, how long you cooked something, etc until you get the feel of it and you'll be all good!
Happy grilling...
~K