Hi Vanessa, thanks for your feedback on the Charcoal Pencils, we are sorry to hear that. We would like to assist you with this issue to improve your experience. These pencils need to be knife sharpened. Regular pencil sharpeners are not recommended in this case as the twisting action causes them to chip and break. There is a great video about this on the Mont Marte YouTube channel link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spNdUr4-xvc We hope this helps Vanessa
