Hi,
You say you have "a lot" of dead softwood.
I can think of a few ways to make use of it if you don't want to just let if lay. I agree with other posters here that making charcoal is simply adding another unnecessary step between cutting it and burning it, for dubious benefits.
When you make charcoal you burn off about 1/2 to 2/3rds of the mass, keeping the remaining charcoal as fuel. It takes a sophisticated setup to try and extract useful heat from the charcoal burner itself as these things can run very hot indeed and, to be worth bothering with, need to take a large load of fuel initially. Think in the region of a tonne of cut logs as feed stuff - otherwise you'll be making charcoal every day for a month to get through the stuff.
Charcoal does have added value as a cooking fuel though, so you could perhaps find a local market for it and buy in hardwood logs (you'd have to research the economics of it in your area). Alternatively you could make charcoal for your own cooking use - it can be a lovely fuel to cook with, especially in summer for outdoor BBQs.
The other technique you might be interested in was pioneered by a Frenchman, Jean Pain - he effectively created a giant hot compost heap from primarily ligneous (woody) brush material. In the centre of this he put a sealed vessel with water and chipped woody material, and through the layers of the heap he ran heavy duty plastic pipe.
The compost heap provided hot water for his home for 12 months or so and, from the vessel in the centre, he collected, pressurised and stored methane gas which he used to fuel his car and run the kitchen stoves.
When it was finished and no longer supplying useful heat the compost heap was dismantled and spread on his vegetable beds and garden.
Wikipedia has an article brief biographical article on him and his techniques- Jean Pain - 1930 to 1981
If you grow some of your own food you might also be interested in making biochar from some of the timber - Biochar is essentially charcoal, but pulverised down to a powder and added to soil to improve fertility. I've been making small quantities of it for a while to add to our vegetable beds. The theory is that it helps prevent leeching of nutrients and minerals from the soil, and improves soil microorganism diversity.
This page is how I make biochar from woody scraps in our garden.
Just a few thoughts for what you might like to do with some of that woody material, if you don't want to burn it directly in your home.
Mike