Writers and critics reflecting on poetic production have frequently answered that question by focussing on the necessity of avoiding superfluity; every single element of a work is to fulfil its function in the best possible way. […] The concept of functionality (each part is required and what is not functional is not required) combines organic as well as economic principles, as it is based on the assumption that there is no waste in nature. “Economy” becomes no less relevant when we take a step from considering inherent structure (elements in relation to the organon as a whole) to considering the function of a work as a realization of its author’s ideas, as an image of life, or as having a particular effect on its audience. […] What exactly is the relationship, for example, between the idea that there should be no word that can be left out without risking the collapse of the whole work and the idea that much (a complex idea or subject matter) should be expressed by sparing means?

From: Matthias Bauer, “Poetic Economy: Ellipsis and Redundancy in Literature”