Quillcraft

“But how can you speak to us? And how can you have memories? What sort of magic is this?” Skylar inquired.

“An ancient one,” the man told them. “The magic of words. I kept a journal for the majority of my life. It was more than just words, though - I poured so much of myself onto the page that I left an imprint there. It’s not something that everyone can do. Only skilled writers, and with all humility, I am a skilled writer. The words and the tales that I wrote left a piece of myself that stuck around after my death. I wrote about my friends, too, and pieces of them must’ve been left behind. I can’t fully explain it - it’s a deep and powerful magic. We can’t do much. Mostly our imprints appear in dreams, to people like you, to aid and guide you the best we can.”

Quillcraft is a form of magic first discovered by Henry Quillcraft, who lived in Britain during the Medieval Period. He was the only person to know about it, but through the magic itself, was able to share it with a few select others.
Quillcraft is a form of book magic. It utilizes notebooks and journals. There's no spell - but whoever is writing in the book must be someone who possesses a talent for writing - it's in their nature, a part of their own personal magic. As they write about their experiences, the magic happens on its own. People who are mentioned often in the journal will become more than just words on the page - a memory of them will be left behind, an imprint of them suspended in time. They can communicate with the living, though, through dreams. They can choose particularly special people to appear to and give advice to. However, they are certain restrictions to how much they can say and do.

“Really?” Skylar asked. “So you could train us?”

The man smiled and shook his head. “No. I don’t know how. Besides, that would take too much of my memories. If I stay here too long, or give too much of my memories, thoughts, and feelings to you two, I cease to exist.”

“That’s horrible!” Skylar exclaimed.

“Not really. This piece of me will just fade away to wherever my soul went after I died. I just won’t be able to communicate with you.”

Eventually, all imprints will fade away. It's the price they pay to pass down their knowledge to others. But they can teach those others how to leave behind their own memories. Although the author themselves is not aware of the imprint they make, by writing about their experiences, knowledge, thoughts, and feelings, there is a strong chance that they will leave a part of themselves behind. If there is someone who knows how Quillcraft works but isn't skilled at writing themselves, they can enlist someone else to write down their experiences for them, word for word, and the effect is the same.
Although not many people know what Quillcraft is, its effects are more common than one might think. People are still people. Journals are kept. Stories are written. People leave behind more of themselves than they realize. Other forms of Quillcraft exist, as well. Songs, inventions, even memories. The more a person does, the more real their imprint becomes, and the more vibrant they are. Quillcraft, however, is the most potent of this kind of magic. A shame that only a few people know what it truly is.