Her books, based on her hometown, were noted for their charm and intimate realism, capturing the underlying emotions and motivations of her characters.

Her parents died in 1923 and 1929, after which she became interested in mysticism, leading to a shift in her writing style, much to the dismay of critics who had enjoyed her earlier work.

[1][2] She was very close to her parents, who were the inspiration for the "charming elderly couple" in her book The Loves of Pelleas and Etare.

[2] Her first story was printed in pencil, because she did not know how to write yet, and the manila pages were bound into a book that was held together by a ribbon.

[1][7] She published Romance Island, her first novel, in 1906, and began the popular "Friendship Village" series of stories which were thought to be based upon Portage,[1][7] although Gale stated that Friendship Village was not based upon any one town, but typical of a small town.

[5] In 1920, she published the novel Miss Lulu Bett, which depicts life in the Midwestern United States, after spending time at Bonnie Oaks.

[7] For the time, she had a rare skill in the way she wrote about common daily experiences of ordinary people in a small town.

Frederick Tabor Cooper said, "We bask for a few hours in that human exhilarating sunshine that radiates straight from the heart of people who are real and true and big of soul.

"[1] Over time, Gale's work evolved from saccharine stories of village life to tales of small-town monotony and routine.

[8] Preface to a Life, published in 1926 was based on a new-found mysticism that grew after the death of her mother in 1923 and her father in 1929.

[7] Critics, who did not enjoy her book and essays, viewed her work unfavorably from that point forward, even when she tried to return to realism.

[7] She wrote a book about a friend, Frank Augustus Miller, the founder of the Mission Inn Hotel, after his death in 1935.

[10] She was an active member of the National Woman's Party, and she lobbied extensively for the 1921 Wisconsin Equal Rights Law.

[7] In the same year, she attended the founding meeting (in New York) of the Lucy Stone League and became a member of its executive committee.

She was on the executive committee of the American Union Against Militarism and a member of the Fellowship of Reconciliation and the Women's Peace Society.

In 1922, she established Zona Gale scholarships to pay towards talented young adult's education.

Governor Philip La Follette convinced other regents, some of whom he had appointed, to call for the removal of Frank.

[16] She became a step mother to William's daughter, Juliette Blackman Breese, who married Cecil Bennett in 1930.