Which version of FME and which platform (Win/Mac/Linux) are you on?
I see this error message for Excel reported before. The cause wasn't clear, but there were a couple of suggestions.
1) If the data has geometry, add a GeometryRemover transformer before the Excel Writer.
2) Do you have more than one Writer in the workspace? If so, try with just a single writer to see if that helps.
Sorry I can't give more explicit suggestions. If you still can't get it working I suggest contacting your support rep (either Safe support at safe.com/support or your local reseller). Mention that it might be related to PR#48867. But if you are using an older FME do try upgrading first, as that often fixes problems.
Regards
Mark