Simplify the following text for a Grade 9 native English-speaking person.
Original: Fan fiction ( alternately referred to as fanfiction , fanfic , FF , or fic ) is a broadly-defined term for fan labor regarding stories about characters ( or simply fictional characters ) or settings written by fans of the original work , rather than by the original creator .
Simplified: Fan fiction or fanfiction ( also known as fanfic ) is a name for fiction created by fans instead of the original author .