A "bunch" of wood will never fully ignite with the lid present, even cracked, for the reasons Mike said: insufficient airflow. You'd get mostly nasty smoke if that happened. Load it with hot charcoal, add a FEW chunks of wood. Remember, you can always make it fruitwood instead of hardwood ... you'll still get smoke flavor. Hell, even with just charcoal it'll take on a nice mild smokiness. Or even just the Hickory or Applewood charcoal from Kingsford will surprise you.
Try it and make note of what you did and how, for next time.