Writing anxiety is a common phenomenon among most English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners, particularly those majoring in English language and literature. However, writing anxiety triggers and effective interventions in under-resourced contexts remained largely unexplored. Through a mixed-method approach, this study examined perceived causes of writing apprehension among 100 EFL students in a public university and a higher education institution and explored effective solutions. Subsequently, six English majors were recruited for the interview. The results revealed that a significant relationship exists between writing anxiety and students' writing performance. Somatic anxiety (M = 3.2) surpassed cognitive anxiety (M = 2.9) and avoidance behaviour (M = 3.2). Moreover, four major triggers of writing anxiety were identified, including, topic unfamiliarity, linguistic difficulties, time pressure, and concerns regarding teachers' negative evaluation. Moreover, the study presents potential strategies that EFL educators can employ globally to alleviate their learners' writing apprehension.